


just for a moment

by euphorickiri



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Gen, Protective Gina Porter, e.j. is the mother of the group I won't take any criticism, luke mullen is harry osborn yup yup, spider-man au, theatre kids as family we love to see it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 03:08:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 96,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22289011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphorickiri/pseuds/euphorickiri
Summary: gina porter's life was hectic enough as it is, but everything was finally starting to settle down.who knew a spider bite could fuck that all up.in other words: a hsmtmts spider-man au
Relationships: E.J. Caswell & Gina Porter, Gina Porter & Carlos Rodriguez, Gina Porter & Everyone, Gina Porter & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Gina Porter/Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen & Carlos Rodriguez, Ricky Bowen & E.J. Caswell, Ricky Bowen & Gina Porter, Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/E.J. Caswell, Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 72
Kudos: 207





	1. before the bite

“Absolutely not.”

Mr. Mazzara groaned in annoyance as Miss Jenn denied him once again, purposely moving around the teachers’ lounge and rearranging things that didn’t need to be moved.

The _last_ thing he wanted to do was to ask Miss Jenn for a favor, but the school board left him no choice.

“You didn’t even let me finish what I had to say,” Mr. Mazzara said, exasperated.

Miss Jenn turned to look at him, anger prominent in her eyes.

“ _You_ disrespected one of my students and questioned my intentions as a teacher. Sorry if I don’t care about anything you have to say,” she snapped, crossing her arms.

Mr. Mazarra winced as she continued to move around the teachers’ lounge, ignoring his presence.

“I know we got off on the wrong foot, but this could be beneficial for the both of us,” Mr. Mazzara replied, causing Miss Jenn to pause. “I know some of your students don’t exactly get along, and this could be a good bonding experience for them.”

  
She turned around, staying silent as she looked him up and down. “First I want an apology. A _genuine_ one. Not only to me, but to Carlos and the rest of my students.”

Before he could reply, Miss Jenn put her hand up, signaling she wasn’t finished.

“Whatever the hell you’re about to ask of me, I call the shots. No ifs ands or buts about it. Are we clear?”

Mr. Mazzara signed in annoyance, closing his eyes and looking up at the ceiling.

This is exactly why he will and _always_ will prefer robots over people.

“ _Fine_ ,” he replied, looking down at face her as she smirked. “Can I please ask my question now?”

“Sure robot man, what’s your offer?”

\---

  
Gina isn’t the type of person to regret things, but letting Ricky and Carlos get to know each other was probably one of the worst decisions she’s ever made.

“How can you sit there and tell me The Greatest Showman is the worst movie ever made???” Carlos exclaimed. “You were literally just praising Zac Efron’s acting and singing!”

“Yeah, in _High School Musical_ ,” Ricky shot back, causing Carlos to gasp in shock. “I don’t care what you say, The Greatest Showman is a complete shitshow.”

Carlos and Ricky continued to argue as Gina attempted to eat her lunch in peace, ignoring the stares from other students watching the two boys argue. Considering how much she and her mom moved, Gina never thought she would have any time to make any meaningful relationships with other people.

That changed the night of the homecoming dance.

Ricky was an asshole at first, considering how he called her out during the dance, but Gina isn’t innocent in any way either. She did originally want Ricky to stay in the show just so Nini would quit, but that plan didn’t end up working out. However, after Ricky drove Gina back home, they both realized they had a lot in common. They started hanging out more and eventually, Carlos joined them, bringing them to where they are now. Even Gina and E.J. have started to get along despite the whole fruit punch situation, to the point where even Ricky is warming up to him, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

Things with Nini, however, are a completely different story.

Ever since Ricky and Gina have started to hang out more, Nini started distancing herself to the point where she won’t even look their way. Ricky is hoping that maybe as practice for the musical goes on, it’ll bring them together again, but with the way Gina sees things going, it’s highly unlikely.

“Alright, it’s out of my control. Ricky wouldn’t know a good musical even if it slapped him across the face,” Carlos sighed.

Gina snorted as Ricky just rolled his eyes, angrily shoving a chicken nugget in his mouth.

“Anyway, now that you idiots are done, can we please talk about something other than musicals for once?” Gina asked.

Carlos looked at his phone, his eyes going wide. Ricky rested his head in his hands, pretending to go into deep thought.

“Well we could talk about how Nini has decided to ignore our entire existence,” Ricky suggested sarcastically as Gina huffed in annoyance.

“ _Or_ we can talk about the trip to Oscorp we have this Friday with the robotics club!”

Gina and Ricky whipped their heads around to stare at Carlos, the school bell going off above them.

“WHAT?!”

Carlos winced as he was bombarded with questions from both of them as they packed their stuff to leave for rehearsal.

“Oscorp? Of all the places in the world it just had to be Oscorp,” Ricky whined, running his hands through his hair.

“We’re a theater group, not a bunch of science nerds, why the hell are we going to Oscorp and not Broadway? And doesn’t Miss Jenn hate the robotics club?” Gina asked in annoyance.

Carlos groaned, turning to face them as they reached the theatre room.

“Look, Miss Jenn _just_ texted me about the trip, and I guess the robotics club didn’t have enough people to go which is why we’re going with them,” he explained. “And I mean a day off school is still a day off school! So I’m not going to complain.”

Gina reluctantly grunted in agreement while Ricky continued to whine as they walked in to join the other theatre kids.

“My mom and her new boyfriend both work at Oscop,” he muttered. “I’d rather not see either of them right now or preferably ever.”

Both Carlos and Gina gave him looks of sympathy as he threw his backpack on the ground, sitting onstage. The other teens sat on either side of him, Gina resting her hand on his shoulder. “Well if it makes you feel any better she doesn’t have to know you’re going to be there. Besides, you’ll be stuck with me and Carlos the entire time so you won’t even be thinking about your mom or her stupid boyfriend.”

Ricky gave Gina a small smile as Carlos pat him on the back.

“Don’t forget the whole bus ride there we’ll have time to watch The Greatest Showman and I will convince you it’s amazing,” Carlos added, causing Ricky's smile to drop as he began bickering with the other boy again.

Gina rolled her eyes, looking towards the door to watch the other theatre kids arrive. She waved at EJ as he walked in with Ashlyn, but she immediately froze when Nini and Kourtney walked in. Kourtney offered Gina an awkward wave as Nini just continued to stare at her with a neutral look on her face. Miss Jenn finally walked in behind them, breaking the awkward tension in the air.

“Alright people! We have a lot of work to get done but first I would like to address our upcoming field trip!” Miss Jenn announced, resulting in everyone protesting.

“Miss Jenn, with all due respect, Oscorp doesn’t have the best reputation,” Ashlyn pointed out.

“Didn’t they pay a lot of money to cover up a really bad lab accident a couple of months ago?” Big Red questioned, causing a huge commotion all over again.

Miss Jenn clapped her hands loudly, centering everyone’s attention. “Listen, despite the sketchy reputation Oscorp may or may not have, this trip is a good bonding experience. The show is coming up fast and some of you still need to build your chemistry to be at your best, which is why I’m putting you in pairs.”

Everyone immediately started protesting again while Miss Jenn just smiled, motioning for Carlos to hand her the clipboard of names.

“I know this isn’t ideal, but trust me, it’ll all be worth it in the end,” Miss Jenn assured. “Alright! Ricky you’re going to be with EJ, Kourtney you’ll be with Big Red, Ashlyn you’ll be with Rico, Carlos you’ll be with Seb, Bianca you’ll be with Kaden, and finally Gina will be with Nini! Your parents have all been informed and everyone needs to be at the school no later than 8:30 Friday morning!”

As everyone started talking about the trip, Ricky gazed nervously at Gina as they both made eye contact with Nini, the other teen still holding a neutral look on her face. Gina offered a small smile which caused Nini to turn away and start talking to Kourtney.

Gina’s smile dropped, sighing in annoyance as she turned to listen to Ricky complain about EJ while Carlos gushed about Seb.

Well, she has a trip to Oscorp to look forward to with a classmate who wants nothing to do with her.

What could possibly go wrong?


	2. the spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She knew Nini was upset, but she was at least hoping the other girl would be civil since they were spending the entire day together.
> 
> Apparently not.

Gina ran around her room, trying to find where she left her permission slip. She was digging through her closet when her mom walked in with a tired expression on her face.

“Ricky is going to be here any minute, did you find it?” she asked, leaning against the door.

Gina turned to look under her bed, rummaging through her piles of belongings. “I swear I left it on top of my dresser and now I can’t find it anywhere!”

Her mom sighed in annoyance, walking into the room to help her daughter look. After a couple of minutes of searching, they finally found the permission slip hidden under a pile of Gina’s clothes.

“You know, it would’ve been easier to find if you just cleaned your room,” her mom pointed out as Gina grabbed her backpack.

“You may see my room as messy, but I just call it organized chaos,” Gina said, causing her mom to snort. 

They saw Ricky’s car pull into the driveway through Gina’s window, the teen honking his horn as Big Red poked his head outside the window of the passenger seat, waving enthusiastically. Gina smiled, giving her mom a quick hug before running downstairs.

“Please be careful, and have fun!” her mom called out as Gina opened the front door.

The curly-haired teen just smiled in response, closing the front door before making her way towards Ricky’s car. Gina’s mom was originally supposed to drop Gina off, but a work emergency came up so Ricky offered to give her a ride along with Big Red. Carlos was also supposed to go with them, but Seb offered to drive him and he didn’t hesitate to accept - which Ricky and Gina teased him _relentlessly_ for - so they would just meet him at the school.

“Are you ready to be bored out of your mind today Miss Porter?” Ricky asked sarcastically, backing out of the driveway.

Big Red rolled his eyes while Gina just laughed. “Of course Mr. Bowen! I can’t wait to listen about useless science facts for 3 hours with one of the most annoying clubs at our school!”

“Am I the only one who’s excited about this trip?” Big Red questioned. “I mean yeah, the robotics club isn’t the best group of people, and Oscorp is pretty sketchy, but it’s a day off of school and we might actually see some pretty cool things!”

“Maybe I would be more excited if we weren’t going somewhere my mom worked,” Ricky muttered, stopping the car at a red light. 

Big Red and Gina looked at each other before looking back at Ricky with sympathetic looks on their faces. After Ricky told his dad about the trip to Oscorp, he accidentally let it slip to Ricky’s mom and she made sure that she would be working today despite Ricky’s many protests.

“The trip would also be way more fun if we were able to pick our partners,” Gina added, trying to lighten the mood. “I tried talking to Nini all week about the trip and she still won’t acknowledge my existence.”

Ricky pulled into the school parking lot as Big Red turned to face Gina. “I honestly don’t think Nini is mad at you or anything. Maybe she’s just hurt?”

Gina thought about Big Red’s words, trying to remember if anything had happened between her and Nini. There was the time she took Nini’s phone and gave it to E.J., but that whole situation was cleared up and they all moved on. Sure, Gina was a little mean to Nini at the start of show rehearsals, but she started warming up to the other teen especially after she and Ricky became better friends.

So what the hell could the issue be?

“I don’t know Big Red, maybe she’s still annoyed with me being in the show,” Ricky said, breaking Gina out of her thoughts.

“Please stop blaming yourself Ricky, she got over that,” the curly-haired teen argued. “Besides, at least you’re not her partner for the day.”

Ricky gave her a look of doubt but didn’t say anything else, putting his car in park before getting out. They walked towards the group of theatre kids and the robotics club who were standing outside the school, buzzing with excitement. Big Red left to find Ashlyn while Carlos ran over to Gina and Ricky, sporting a huge blush on his face.

“Looks like someone had a great morning,” Gina teased, causing Carlos’s blush to grow even darker.

“If sunshine were a person, it would be Seb,” Carlos gushed. “He was so sweet this morning when he picked me up. He even got out of the car to open the door for me! It was the cheesiest shit ever but he’s so adorable that he makes it work.”

Carlos was smiling so wide Gina was afraid his face would be stuck like that permanently, but she was happy that at least one of her friends was in a good mood. Ricky teased Carlos as he continued to gush about Seb while Gina saw Nini approaching the group, laughing at whatever Kourtney was saying. As soon as she made eye contact with Gina, however, her smile dropped and quickly turned away. The curly-haired teen closed her eyes, her body shaking in anger.

She knew Nini was upset, but she was at least hoping the other girl would be civil since they were spending the entire day together.

Apparently not.

It would be a completely different situation if Gina knew what she did wrong. But as far as she’s concerned, she did nothing to make Nini act this way towards her. At this point, if Nini wasn’t going to try and communicate with her, Gina was done being civil.

Ricky hesitantly approached her, resting his hand on her shoulder. “Gina?”

She turned around, giving the taller teen the fakest smile he’s ever seen. “I’m fine, it’s whatever. I really don’t care anymore. She hates me and I can’t do anything about it.”

“Gina you know that’s not true,” Carlos argued.

Before they could continue, Miss Jenn blew her whistle signaling for everyone to quiet down. Mr. Mazzara stood next to her, and for once he actually looked pretty happy.

“Alright ladies and gentleman! It’s time to head off to Oscorp!” Miss Jenn announced.

Everyone cheered as they made their way to the buses, finding their partners and handing in their permission slips. Carlos and Ricky watched as Gina practically threw her permission slip at Mr. Mazzara, stomping onto the bus in anger. Even Nini had a surprised expression on her face as she watched the other teen. Seb and EJ ran up to them, big smiles on their faces as they were oblivious to the slightly tense atmosphere.

“This is going to be awesome,” EJ said, swinging his arm around Ricky’s shoulders.

Carlos sighed, watching as Gina angrily sat down on the bus. “Yeah. Totally awesome.”

The bus ride wasn’t as unbearable as Gina thought it was going to be. Ricky, Carlos, Seb, and EJ ended up sitting in the seats behind her while Big Red and Kourtney sat across from her, allowing her to relax and laugh with her friends. Nini stayed silent the entire time, occasionally glancing towards Gina when the other girl didn’t notice. When they finally got to Oscorp, however, Ricky’s expression slowly faded into one of dread.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” EJ assured, nudging his shoulder. “Even if you do see your mom it won’t be for long.”

Ricky gave him a small smile as the bus finally parked. As they got off the bus, Gina noticed how intimidating Oscorp really looked. It was an extremely tall glass building tinted with dark green, the sign “OSCORP” glaring down at them from the top of it. Ricky and Carlos stood next to her, their eyes wide with curiosity.

“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but this place looks like an evil lab,” Carlos stated.

“I honestly don’t think that’s a nice way of describing this building at all,” Gina replied.

Ricky continued to stare up at the Oscorp sign with an unreadable expression on his face. “Well my mom and her stupid boyfriend work here, so I’m not surprised this building looks like it belongs to a super villain.”

Carlos and Gina stayed silent after that, not knowing what else to say.

Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara walked in front of the group as a woman in a lab coat walked out of the building to join them. “Everyone, this is Doctor Opal. She’ll be leading us on our tour here,” Mr. Mazzara announced.

Dr. Opal was a short woman, her tan skin bringing out her bright green eyes. Her black hair was in a neat bun sitting on the top of her head. Gina noticed that she had a wide smile on her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She shook the weird feeling she was starting to get off, trying to convince herself it was probably just some weird scientist thing. 

“Welcome to Oscorp industries, the leading company in eco-friendly technology,” she said enthusiastically. “We’re so excited to have you all here today! Please follow me so we can begin the tour.”

Gina fell in step with Nini, both of them staying silent as everyone else talked about what they were excited to see. Dr. Opal led them through the front of the building, starting to talk about the history of Oscorp. Gina tuned her out, looking around at the workers. One of the security guards made eye contact with her, a dead look in his eyes. Gina was quick to look away, a shiver going up her spine.

“Big Red was right when he said Oscrop was sketchy,” she muttered under her breath. 

Nini heard her, clearing her throat before speaking. “The workers are like zombies, it’s super creepy.” 

Nini looked nervous as she spoke, Gina looking at her in surprise. She also noticed the slight British accent in Nini’s speech, remembering the other girl did that when she was nervous.

But what the hell did she have to be nervous about? 

“Oh, finally decided you wanted to acknowledge my existence?” Gina snapped.

Before Nini could explain herself, Miss Jenn called them to keep up with the group. Gina practically ran to catch up with everyone else to get away from Nini, purposely ignoring the looks of concern from both Ricky and Carlos.

“This is our department of genetics,” Dr. Opal explained as the group approached the next room. “Lynne Bowen is the lead researcher of this department.”

Ricky’s head snapped up as his mom walked up to the group with a nervous expression on her face. She looked at Ricky who just stood behind EJ and kept eye contact with Dr. Opal so he wouldn’t have to face her. Lynne cleared her throat and smiled awkwardly, gesturing for the group to follow her around.

“Our team has recently been studying the genetic makeup of organisms such as spiders, lizards, and snakes, seeing if it’s possible to infuse their DNA with the DNA of an actual person,” Lynne explained. “These are some of our test subjects.”

Everyone looked at the glass boxes she motioned towards, observing all of the different organisms crawling around.

“Wait, why is that box empty?” Ashlyn asked, pointing at one of the boxes in the middle.

“That box was for test subject 49, one of our spiders, but it escaped and traveled up to one of our labs upstairs,” Lynn replied. “But don’t worry, that area is contained and our workers will find the spider and bring it back.”

She started talking about the other research they were doing, leading the group to a different section of the floor. As they moved, Gina noticed Nini stayed behind to look at the test subjects more. She huffed in annoyance, looking back towards the group before she walked over to Nini.

“Listen, as interesting as it is looking at a bunch of spiders, I’d rather not get in trouble for losing track of my partner,” Gina said. 

Nini looked regretful, fiddling with the ends of her hair nervously. “Sorry, I just got distracted. It’s kind of depressing looking at them all locked up.”

Gina did agree, but her anger at the other girl prevented her from voicing her similar thoughts.

“Can we please just go meet up with the group? I don’t want to lose them,” she finally said, starting to walk in the direction their classmates went.

Instead of following, Nini reached out and grabbed her wrist as she looked Gina in the eyes.

“Nini we don’t have time for this-”

“I’m sorry.”

The taller girl froze as Nini tightened her grip on her wrist, her eyes filled with regret.

“I shouldn’t have ignored you. I was being rude and petty for no reason. I don’t even know why I was so mad in the first place. Even Kourtney didn’t get why I was acting like this,” she explained. “I guess seeing you and Ricky together made me upset? That’s not a good reason at all for the silent treatment I’ve been giving you but it’s the only explanation I can give.”

As Gina tried to come up with a response, a spider with the number 49 painted on the back of it was slowly descending from the ceiling towards the girls.

“Look, if you’re jealous of me and Ricky, you have nothing to worry about. We’re just friends. But even if that was the main reason it was still shitty of you to act like we didn’t exist even though we did nothing wrong.”

The spider landed on Gina’s shoulder and started crawling down her arm slowly.

“I’m not jealous,” Nini defended. “I just don’t know where we stand.”

The spider was at Gina’s wrist now, pausing as its eyes quickly flickered around. 

“Don’t know where we stand?!?” she snapped, Nini’s eyes going wide at her outburst. “Last time I checked, I thought we were starting to become friends. What? Do you just see me as some obstacle in the way of you getting Ricky back?!?”

“That’s not it at all!” Nini immediately shot back. “I don’t want Ricky back!”

“Then what the _hell_ is your problem?”

“ _I DON’T KNOW !_ ” Nini yelled, gaining the attention of some of the scientists around them.

Gina was taken aback while the other girl took a deep breath, trying to calm down. 

“Maybe I still don’t trust you,” Nini concluded. “I mean you stole my phone and gave it to E.J. to try and get me out of the show. Are you just hanging out with Ricky to mess with me too?”

The taller girl looked at her in disbelief, her eyes filling with rage.

“I’m friends with Ricky because I _want_ to be. The world doesn’t revolve around you,” Gina snapped. “And for the _last time_ , I apologized. You accepted. We made a truce. What more do you want from me???”

Nini’s expression softened, her eyes filling with regret.

“I didn’t mean-”

“It doesn’t matter. You still said it didn’t you?”

“Gina please-”

“Save it,” she snapped. “Maybe this is karma for being rude to you when we first met, I don’t know. But I’m happy to see you haven’t changed how you felt about me at all even though I thought we were friends.”

Nini looked up at Gina with tears in her eyes while the taller teen continued to glare, ignoring the guilt she felt for making the older girl upset. Before Nini could say anything else, Carlos came around the corner and walked over to them.

“There you are! Miss Jenn was about to have a heart attack,” he exclaimed. “We’re going up to see the greenhouse. I just told her you guys went to the bathroom so hopefully, she won’t be too mad.”

He looked between them, noticing the awkward silence. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, nothing to worry about,” Nini replied quickly. “Thank you for covering for us.”

She gave Gina one last look before walking to catch up with the rest of the group. Carlos crossed his arms, a concerned expression on his face as he watched the other teen look everywhere but him.

“Do you want to-”

“Nope, lets just catch up with the group,” Gina said, cutting him off.

Carlos sighed in frustration but said nothing else, turning around to start walking. As Gina went to join him, she felt something crawling on her hand. She froze, looking down at her arm seeing a spider resting there. Her eyes went wide when she saw the number 49 on its back, but it was too late. The spider sunk its teeth into her hand, sending an electric shock through her body. Gina quickly swatted the spider away, hissing in pain as she saw the red mark the spider left behind. Her hand was already swelling from the bite and she didn’t feel well at all, the room spinning slightly even if she was standing still.

Gina started to internally freak out considering she didn’t even know what type of spider it was and whether or not it was lethal. She looked down at the ground, panicking even more when she saw the spider wasn’t moving anymore.

Great, there’s a possibility she could be dying right now _and_ she killed the missing test subject that belonged to a billion-dollar company. 

Today just kept getting worse and worse.

Carlos noticed she stopped moving and Gina was quick to hide her hand behind her back when he turned to check on her. 

“Are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yeah I’m fine, just tired,” she lied, slightly wincing from the pain in her hand.

Before he could ask any more questions, Gina quickly walked back to the group as the tour continued. Nothing else interesting happened, but the pain from the spider bite prevented Gina from focusing on anything and she only felt worse as the day went on. When the tour finally ended, everyone got back on the bus and Gina collapsed in the first seat, leaning her head against the window and closing her eyes. 

Ricky had a furious expression on his face when he got on the bus, but it immediately softened when he saw Gina’s condition. EJ followed right after him, a look of concern taking over his face when he saw the younger teen

“No offense, but you look like shit,” Ricky said bluntly, making Gina laugh.

EJ whacked him over the head, going through his bag afterward to get a water bottle for her as Ricky complained about being hit. When he held it out to her Gina tried to protest but EJ just gave her a stern look. “I don’t know what made you sick but you need to stay hydrated. I’d rather not watch you pass out from dehydration.”

Gina huffed in frustration and took the bottle reluctantly, but she still gave the senior a grateful smile.

“Did your mom talk to you?” Gina asked, taking small sips from the water bottle.

“Yes, but that’s not important right now,” Ricky replied. “Carlos told me he saw you and Nini arguing when you separated from the group. What was that about?”

Gina narrowed her eyes when Ricky deflected her question, but she was too tired to argue with him. “Well I was right, she hates me. I would love to discuss how shitty I feel but I’d rather lay down before I puke all over the bus.”

Ricky looked upset but he nodded, walking towards the back of the bus. EJ pat Gina on the shoulder before following the other boy. Carlos and Seb both gave her looks of concern as they passed, but she just gave them a small smile to try and reassure that she was fine. 

Which she wasn’t at _all_.

The pain from the spider bite only intensified, she had a huge headache and her nausea was only getting worse. She tried to take another sip from the water bottle E.J. gave her, but her hands were shaking so much that she just gave up. Nini finally walked onto the bus with Kourtney behind her and Gina was quick to look away. Nini sat next to her with a worried expression but didn’t say anything about Gina’s sickly appearance. She was going to try and apologize again, but the curly-haired teen cut her off before she could even speak. 

“Don’t worry about the fight, we’ll just pretend like it never happened, “ Gina said quietly, breaking the silence between them. “You can continue ignoring my existence once the play is over.”

Nini looked like she wanted to protest, but she stayed silent and turned to talk to her other classmates, deciding it was best to leave the other girl alone for now. The bus started moving and Gina sighed in relief, looking out the window to watch Oscorp fade away.

Hopefully, with a good night of sleep, this would all be behind her in the morning. 


	3. the bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whether the teen liked it or not, she knew she had to look into this, especially if they started looking into what really happened before the spider died.
> 
> Because if they did, it would lead them right to her.

As soon as Ricky dropped her off at home, Gina dragged herself upstairs and collapsed onto her bed. Her mom was working late and wouldn’t be back home until school ended tomorrow, so she was home alone.

Ricky, Carlos, and even EJ offered to stay with her to make sure she would be okay, but the teen assured them she would be fine.

Gina was currently regretting not letting them stay. 

Her head was pounding, she felt like she was going to projectile vomit at any given moment, and her entire body felt like it was on fire.

She groaned as another wave of nausea hit her, tossing and turning in her bed. The teen turned towards her phone, contemplating on calling either her mom or one of her friends.

Her mom was completely out of the question, Gina knowing damn well her mom would drop everything to come home and take care of her, even if she really needed the hours. As she was about to call Carlos, a sharp pain went through her head, causing Gina to drop her phone on the ground as she cried out in pain.

Her eyes started tearing up as the pain grew, wrapping her arms around herself and curling into a ball.

She stayed in that position all night until she fell asleep.

As soon as Gina’s phone alarm went off the next morning, she whined before covering her head with a pillow and trying to fall back asleep. For some reason, the alarm seemed louder than usual which just frustrated her even more. Eventually, the alarm became too annoying and Gina sighed in defeat, getting up to turn it off.

When the teen opened her phone, her eyes went wide at all the missing texts and calls she had.

**_Carlos (3 missed calls)_ **

**_Ricky (3 missed calls)_ **

**_EJ (2 missed calls)_ **

**_Mom (1 missed call)_ **

**_Nini (1 missed call)_ **

**carlos: ik something bad went down between u & nini, but i’m here when ur ready to talk about it <3**

**ricky: text me back if ur still alive ;)**

**ej: I’m begging u to eat actual food for breakfast, i’d rather not watch u pass out during rehearsal, hope ur feeling better**

**mom: I’m not going to be home until late. They need me to stay longer.**

Gina’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she saw Nini tried to call her, rolling her eyes in annoyance. It was obvious to her Nini wanted nothing to do with her unless it had to do with the play, so she would make sure to keep her distance.

She went to block the other girl’s number, her finger hovering over the block button. Gina bit her lip, huffing in frustration before canceling the request and going back to her texts. Her eyes went wide with realization, especially after E.J.’s message.

_She was supposed to be sick._

What the hell happened???

She threw her phone on the bed, running her hand through her hair as she paced around the room. She wasn’t nauseous, her headache was gone, and she felt way better than she has in a while.

For a moment yesterday, Gina legitimately thought she was dying. Should she have called the hospital? Probably. But what would she even say?

“Yeah hi, I was bitten by a spider Oscorp was running genetic research on!”

She pulled at her hair in frustration, trying to think of a logical explanation of what was happening. Maybe all she really did need what a good night of sleep and she was being overdramatic? Or the fight with Nini made her feel worse than she already did?

_Maybe I still don’t trust you_

The words hurt even more now, Gina realizing she was sadder rather than angry about the fight. She groaned, flopping back onto her bed and running her hands over her face.

Why are Nini’s words bothering her so much anyway? She shouldn’t care about what the other girl thinks. Before she could delve deeper into that mystery, her phone started ringing and Ricky’s contact photo popped up. Gina winced as her phone continued to ring, grabbing it quickly to answer the call. 

Why was everything so loud?

“So you're still alive,” Ricky teased. “Carlos was starting to think you disappeared off the face of earth or something. Anyway, are you feeling any better?”

Gina tried to respond, but Ricky’s voice felt like it was ten times louder than it usually was, causing her ears to ring. She clutched her head in pain, everything around her starting to feel like it was too much.

The light from the window was too bright, Ricky’s voice was too loud she could hear the neighbor’s dog barking, even the wind was too noisy. It felt as if the entire world was closing in around her and her senses were dialed up even higher than they were before. She tried taking deep breathes, wincing in pain from the loudness of the static of the phone call. 

“Yeah I’m still pretty sick actually,” Gina replied quickly. “I’m probably going to stay home today so I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow!”

Before Ricky could respond Gina practically threw her phone across the room, closing her eyes and covering her ears to try and calm herself down. She curled up into a ball again, tears forming in her eyes as she wished for the pain to stop.

\---

Ricky frowned when Gina hung up, Carlos and EJ looking at him expectantly. The teens were sitting alone in the auditorium while they were waiting for school to start, huddled in a circle on the stage. 

“ _Well?_ ” Carlos pressed.

“She said she still feels sick,” Ricky replied, shoving his phone in his pocket.

“Do you think we should stop by after school and check up on her?” EJ asked. “We could bring her soup or something.”

Ricky huffed in frustration, throwing his head back. “I wish I could, but my mom and her stupid boyfriend are coming over as soon as rehearsal is over so I have to go straight home.”

Carlos and EJ gave each other a look before facing Ricky who was looking right back at them expectantly.

“What?”

Carlos gave him a worried look while EJ crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows. “So we’re going to sit here and pretend like something bad didn’t happen between you and your mom on the trip?”

Ricky’s eyes went wide as Carlos turned to slap the senior upside the head. 

“Jesus _christ_ don’t be so blunt,” Carlos scolded. 

“It’s none of your business” Ricky snapped. “I can deal with my own problems.”

EJ narrowed his eyes as he sat up. “The point is that you don’t have to,” he shot back. “As soon as Gina asked what was wrong yesterday, you immediately changed the subject!”

“You put everyone else before yourself all the time,” Carlos added. “Big Red told me you were trying to blame yourself for the whole Nini situation even if both he and Gina told you it wasn’t your fault.”

Ricky stayed silent as the other two teens stared at him, waiting for a response. The bell rang above them and Ricky was quick to grab his stuff and stand up.

“Tell Gina I hope she feels better,” he mumbled, walking out of the auditorium without another word.

\---

After what felt like an eternity, Gina was able to sit up without feeling so overwhelmed. She slowly got up, just in case something else happened. The teen decided that as soon as her mom got home, she would tell her about the spider bite. If she had to go through what she just went through alone again, Gina was convinced she would lose her mind.

Her mom is the only person who could help her right now.

As she tried to find where she threw her phone on the ground, she pricked her finger on something sharp. She flinched and cradled her hand to her chest, groaning when she saw she was bleeding. When Gina looked to see what hurt her, the teen’s eyebrows furrowing in confusion when she saw it was a small piece of glass. She stood up to look around and see if there was any more glass scattered anywhere, immediately freezing when she saw her mirror. It was completely shattered with a gigantic hole in the middle of the wood the glass was supported with. She could see her phone on the other side of the hole, but Gina couldn’t bring herself to move. Did she throw her phone that hard? Even if she did, last time she checked she wasn’t _superman_.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Gina took deep breaths to calm herself down, deciding it would be a better idea to go downstairs and use the house phone to call her mom. As she went to open her bedroom door, she pulled on the doorknob and ended up pulling the entire door off of its hinges. Gina’s jaw dropped as she let go of the handle, letting the door crash to the floor. Her hands started to shake, her eyes filling with terror. She slowly checked her hand where she cut with glass, seeing that the cut was completely healed.

She cradled her hand to her chest as she fell to the floor, her whole body shaking as she tried to catch her breath. 

She couldn’t tell her mom anything, not now. What if she hurt her? Carlos? Ricky? EJ? 

_Nini_

She was angry at the other girl, but she didn’t want to hurt her. Tears started forming in Gina’s eyes as she tightened the grip on her once injured hand. Should she quit the show? She didn’t know what was happening and she didn’t know how to control it. What if she hurt someone?

Her phone went off, breaking the teen out of her thoughts. She slowly got up, moving her mirror out of the way and carefully picked up her phone. The notification was from the theatre group chat, Big Red sending a link from an article. Gina opened it, her eyes going wide when she saw the headline.

**_Oscorp doctor killed in tragic accident_ **

_From inside sources, Doctor Opal was bitten by a lethal test subject which led to her tragic passing. Oscorp has not confirmed nor denied this claim-_

Gina turned off her phone, looking back at her shattered mirror. She should’ve known. That damn _spider_. Gina felt sick to her stomach knowing that the spider died after it bit her, meaning Oscorp was covering up what really happened to Doctor Opal. Whether the teen liked it or not, she knew she had to look into this, especially if they started looking into what really happened before the spider died.

Because if they did, it would lead them right to her.

\---

“Okay everyone, that was a great rehearsal! We need to run through Act 2 again so please get ready to work hard tomorrow!” Miss Jenn announced.

Ricky put his script back in his backpack, planning to run to his car before Carlos and EJ could corner him again. Someone cleared their throat behind him and he turned, jumping in surprise when he saw Nini standing there.

“Hey,” she greeted awkwardly.

He didn’t say anything back and Nini cleared her throat again, trying to fill the silence between them. “Look, I know we haven't talked in a while and that’s on me, but I was wondering if you’ve heard from Gina? She looked really sick yesterday and I called her last night but she didn’t respond.”

“Last time I checked, you didn’t even bother to acknowledge Gina’s existence the other day,” Ricky snapped. “Why the hell do you care now?”

Nini huffed in frustration, narrowing her eyes. “Well she’s Taylor, isn’t she? We need to know if she’s going to be able to be here to play her part.”

“Of course you only care about her because of the stupid show. Why am I not surprised?” Ricky scoffed.

Carlos walked towards them cautiously, resting his hand on Ricky’s shoulder. “Look, Gina is going to be fine. If she wanted to talk to you she would have called you back.”

Before Nini could argue, Kourtney walked over before grabbing the other teen’s arm, dragging her away. Ricky sighed in relief, giving Carlos a grateful smile as he grabbed his bag. 

“Hey, I’m sorry for ambushing you earlier, “ the shorter teen apologized. “EJ’s sorry too even if he’s too stubborn to admit it. We’re just worried about you, but whenever you’re ready to talk we’re here for you.”

Everyone else had left the room, leaving the two boys alone. Ricky bit his lip nervously, playing with the strap of his bag. Carlos just gave him a small smile before he turned to leave.

“I told my mom I’m bisexual,” Ricky blurted out.

Carlos whipped his head around, his eyes going wide as he saw the tears forming in his friend’s eyes.

“We started arguing when she pulled me aside and I yelled at her for never being around anymore and how she doesn’t even know me and it just came out. She didn’t even acknowledge it. She just rolled her eyes and said I needed to stop being dramatic and appreciate that she was _trying_ to be around more. I fucking came out to her and that was her response?!? Am I that unimportant to her now???” 

Carlos practically ran towards Ricky, pulling him into a tight hug. Ricky buried his face in the shorter’s teen shoulder as he cried, his broken sobs echoing across the room. 

“Your mom is an absolute idiot,” Carlos said fiercely. “Fuck her, you are so important and she doesn’t deserve any of your time.”

Ricky gripped the back of the other teen’s sweater, crying even harder. 

“Alright fuck your mom _and_ her boyfriend. You’re coming over to my house,” Carlos said, taking out his phone.

Ricky lifted his head and tried to protest but the other teen ignored him, texting EJ that they would go to check on Gina tomorrow.

“Carlos I don’t want to be a burden,” Ricky argued, his voice hoarse from crying.

“Call yourself a burden again and I will drop kick you,” Carlos snapped. “My parents _love_ you and I don’t want you to be alone.” Before Ricky could protest again, Carlos took his backpack from him before grabbing his own, dragging the taller boy out of the room. 

\---

“Alright, cut the bullshit. What’s going on with you?”

After Kourtney dragged Nini away from Ricky, the two girls went to the coffee shop near the school to sit down and talk. Nini was playing around with the sugar packets that were left on the table, avoiding her friend’s gaze.

“Nothing is-”

“Bullshit.” Nini huffed in frustration, leaning back in her seat. Kourtney narrowed her eyes at the other girl who continued to stay silent.

“Is this about Ricky?” Kourtney questioned. “Are you jealous of Gina or something?”

“ _No_ ,” Nini snapped. “How many times do I have to say no?! Do I miss being friends with him, yes! But I’m over him! This is and _never_ has been about Ricky.”

“So it was about Gina then?” Kourtney retorted, silencing the other teen. “I hope you know this never would’ve happened if you talked to them instead of pretending the didn’t exist as I told you _several times_.”

Nini grabbed the container the sugar packets were in, putting them back angrily. “It’s not like they would’ve noticed me. They would be too busy in their own little world.” 

Kourtney stayed silent as she watched Nini continue to put the sugar packets away, realizing that the other girl was oblivious to what was really going on.

“Nini, you said you were over Ricky right?” she questioned again, causing the other teen to groan in annoyance.

“ _Yes_ oh my god, Kourt-”

“Then why do you sound jealous?” Kourtney asked, cutting her off.

“I’m not,” Nini muttered.

Kourtney looked at her in disbelief as the teen avoided her gaze. “You just told me you ignored them because even if you didn’t, they would be the ones ignoring you.”

“So what?” Nini snapped. “Maybe instead of hanging out with Ricky all the time, it would be nice for her to pay attention to me too!”

Kourtney stayed silent as Nini’s eyes went wide, already figuring out what she failed to see.

“Nini-”

“It’s just because we’re supposed to be best friends in the show,” she countered quickly, gathering her stuff. “Taylor and Troy barely talk so I was just frustrated when we should’ve been building our chemistry more. That’s _all_.”

Kourtney stood up, grabbing the other teen’s wrist. “Nini it’s okay-”

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow Kourt,” Nini said shortly, cutting her off as she pulled her wrist from Kourtney’s grip, running out of the coffee shop. 

\---

Gina knew it wouldn’t be smart to leave her house in her current predicament, but after Carlos sent her a text explaining what happened with Ricky, she couldn’t sit around while her friend needed her. She was able to clean all of the broken glass from her mirror, but when she attempted to fix her door, she broke the doorknob from gripping it too hard, so it was a lost cause. She ended up leaving the door in the backyard and decided to try and attempt to give her mom a reason as to why she no longer has a door.

Gina rode her bike to Carlos’s house, being careful not to hold the handlebars too tight so she wouldn’t break her only way of transportation. When she got there, the teen left her bike near the garage before ringing the doorbell. Mr. Rodriguez was the one who answered the door, smiling brightly when he saw Gina. 

“Gina! It’s so nice to see you!” he exclaimed, opening the door wider to let her in. “Carlos told me you weren’t feeling so well yesterday, but you look like you’re feeling a lot better!”

“Yeah, I just needed to sleep it off,” Gina lied with a small smile on her face, “Is Carlos upstairs?”

“He’s up there with Ricky,” he replied. “You can head up, I’ll bring you guys some snacks.”

Gina gave him a grateful smile before going upstairs, walking towards Carlos’s room before softly knocking on the door.

“It’s open!” the teen called.

Gina opened the door, smirking when she saw The Greatest Showman playing on the TV. Both Carlos and Ricky were in their pajamas, the taller teen resting his head on Carlos’s lap.

“So you finally convinced him to watch the movie huh?” Gina teased, catching their attention.

Carlos and Ricky shot up, hugging her tightly. She was careful not to hug them too tightly, laughing as they started rambling.

“You’re alive thank _god_ ,” Ricky sighed dramatically.

“You’re supposed to be on bed rest!” Carlos scolded, letting go of her to put his hands on his hips.

“I feel a lot better, don’t worry,” Gina assured. “Besides, I heard what happened and I wanted to be here.”

Ricky gave her a grateful smile as he pulled her into another hug, resting his head on top of hers. Carlos joined in, wrapping his arms around the both of them.

“Your mom is an idiot who doesn’t deserve you,” Gina assured. “If she’s going to treat you trying to open up to her as ‘being dramatic’, you shouldn’t even give her the time of day.”

“What if she tells my dad?” he asked quietly.

“It’s not her place to say anything,” Carlos replied. “I don’t think she’s going tell your dad, and you don’t have to rush to say anything. You tell him when you’re ready.”

Ricky held them together, tears forming in his eyes. “I don’t deserve you guys.”

Mr. Rodriguez knocked on the door holding a bowl of popcorn and snacks, smiling as Carlos groaned.

“ _Dad_ ,” he whined. “We were having a moment!” Ricky and Gina started giggling as Mr. Rodriguez just rolled his eyes as Carlos continued to complain. “Well, you can continue having your moment after I put these snacks down and go back downstairs.”

As soon as she stepped into the room, Gina felt a slight tingle at the back of her head, causing her to jump slightly at the unfamiliar sensation.

What the hell was that?

Time seemed to slow down around her when she realized Mr. Rodriguez was about to trip over a small dent in the floor which would cause him to drop everything. Before she could even think rationally, Gina quickly took the popcorn from him before it could even fall, steadying him so he wouldn’t drop the other snacks. Mr. Rodriguez looked impressed while Carlos and Ricky were looking at her in disbelief. Gina’s face turned red as she quickly placed the popcorn down on the bed, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “There was a dent in the floor, so, you know, I just didn’t want you to trip.”

“You have some fast reflexes,” he laughed, putting the other snacks down. “Anyway, Gina feel free to sleepover. You kids have fun and don’t stay up too late!”

He waved before leaving, closing the door behind him. The curly-haired teen smiled nervously as Carlos and Ricky continued to stare at her in shock.

“I’ve never seen you move that fast before!” Ricky exclaimed. 

“Well, I am I dancer so I have to move fast!” Gina replied quickly, laughing awkwardly.

“If you could please use that speed to get on the bed so we can finish the movie, that would be great,” Carlos teased, laughing as both Ricky and Gina jumped on the bed.

They gathered the snacks and continued watching the movie, Ricky reluctantly agreeing it wasn’t as bad as he remembered to which Carlos cheered in victory. The trio eventually drifted closer to each other as the movie went on, Ricky resting his head on Gina’s shoulder while Carlos laid across their legs. When the movie was over, Ricky was fast asleep and Gina was starting to drift off as she watched Carlos mindlessly flip through TV channels. 

Before he turned off the TV, Carlos checked the news channel and his eyes went wide when he saw the news reporter standing outside of Oscorp. Gina was wide awake now, carefully laying Ricky down on the pillows before sitting next to Carlos as he turned up the volume slightly. 

_“With the recent passing of one of their leading scientists, Oscorp has been under heavy fire for not speaking on the incident,”_ the reporter stated. _“Inside sources claim an experiment ‘gone wrong’ is what caused the unfortunate death of Doctor Opal, but a new source claims that the new CEO could’ve been the person behind her death-”_

Gina took the remote from Carlos and turned the TV off, slamming it down on his bedside table with more force than necessary. She ignored the look of concern he gave him, moving back to her spot next to Ricky as she got under the covers.

“I don’t want to wake Ricky up by watching some stupid news story,” she whispered. “We should just go to sleep.”

Carlos gave her a questioning gaze but didn’t say anything in response, reaching over to turn off his lamp. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he saw a large crack on his bedside table under the spot Gina placed the remote. He shook his head, telling himself he needed to get a new table anyway as he turned off the light. Gina was on her back, staring up at the ceiling as the two boys were asleep on either side of her. When she was listening to the news, the tingling feeling she felt before came back, this time at a higher intensity. She knew that the only way to figure out what happened to her was to go through Oscorp, and that terrified her. She didn’t want to do it alone, but she had no choice. Telling anyone else about what was happening to her could potentially put them in danger. 

She could do this. She was _Gina Porter_ for fucks sake.

She was going to get to the bottom of this, even if she had to tear Oscorp down brick by brick. 


	4. the convenience store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina had no idea how to fight and she barely had control over what was going on with her.
> 
> But that didn’t matter.
> 
> Someone’s life was on the line, and the teen couldn’t sit around and let it happen when she knew she could do something to help. 

“You know, the internet exists.”

Gina rolled her eyes at Big Red’s sass, sitting next to him. The curly-haired teen asked him to meet her in the library during lunch to talk about Oscorp. Out of all the kids who went on the trip, he was the one who knew the most about the company before they even got there. She was well aware she could easily look everything up, but Oscorp was a powerful company and she was being cautious. If any cameras pointing her way when the spider bit her, they could be watching her. She wanted to be extra careful.

There could also be the possibility that she was just being overly paranoid and Oscorp really was just an innocent eco-friendly company. Gina scoffed at the thought, putting her bag down on the table.

“Yes the internet exists, but you seem to know a lot more about Oscorp than the internet does,” the curly-haired teen replied, “I tried looking for the story about that accident you mentioned and I couldn’t find it anywhere.”

Big Red smirked, taking out his laptop. “That’s because you have to know the right places to look. If you just google this kind of stuff, it’s not going to pop up. Oscorp is known for covering up their accidents and they know how to hide it well.”

Gina moved closer to him as he started typing on his laptop.

“It’s ironic, but you have to look for the unreliable sources,” Big Red explained. “If some random person on twitter or reddit starts talking about how sketchy Oscorp is, no one is going to pay attention to them. It’s just one person. But if you look hard enough, the stories these people tell add up.”

He pulled up a tweet from 3 years ago, Gina’s eyes going wide as she read it.

_Oscorp is the reason my husband is dead. He discovered something that they didn’t like and the next day, there was an explosion that killed him._

“That’s insane,” she whispered. 

“It does sound crazy when it comes from one person, but there have been various stories from other people,” Big Red replied, scrolling down. “There’s a pattern. Every time a scientist does something Oscorp doesn’t like, all of a sudden there’s a ‘tragic accident’ that they were a victim of.”

Gina leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms. “So all of this is essentially one big conspiracy theory?”

“I guess you can put it like that, but after our trip to Oscorp and seeing what happened to Doctor Opal, it seems pretty real to me,” Big Red stated.

The curly-haired teen huffed in frustration as Big Red typed something else on his laptop. As much as she _wanted_ to believe that this was all just some big conspiracy, she knew most of it was true. Once she stepped inside of Oscorp, something felt off. She shivered as she remembered the dead look from the security guard. 

“I’ve noticed the accidents have gotten more frequent though,” Big Red said, breaking Gina out of her thoughts. “Ever since the new CEO came in, things seem even more sketchy than they were before.”

“Who’s the new CEO?” she questioned.

“Todd Wilkins.” The two teens looked up as Ashlyn stood in front of them, holding her script. She sat in the seat across from them with a sheepish smile on her face. “Sorry for eavesdropping, but I’m glad to know I wasn’t the only one who felt uneasy about Oscorp.” Gina sent her a reassuring smile while Big Red furrowed his eyebrows, immediately typing something on his computer. 

“I thought Harry was supposed to be the new CEO,” he muttered. 

“That’s true, but Todd is Norman’s business partner. Even if Harry is Norman’s son, he’s too young to take over an entire company,” Ashlyn explained.

“Didn’t Norman get sick or something?” Gina asked.

“Yeah, and some people think Todd had something to do with it,” Ashlyn replied. “Every time he appeared on the news he always talked about wanting to take over the company someday.”

“He’s actually the one who opened up the genetics department at Oscorp,” Big Red added, turning his laptop around to show the other two teens.

Gina felt the tingling sensation in the back of her head as she looked at the photo, Todd shaking hands with Norman with a smile on his face. Ashlyn scrolled down further on the page, reading the information and talking to Big Red about it. Gina tuned them out, the picture of Todd burned into her memory. If he was the one who opened the genetics department, then he's the one who wanted to test if human DNA could be merged with one of an insect. 

But _why_?

“-I still think he wanted to make some sort of super-soldier or something.”

Gina’s head shot up as Big Red spoke.

“Do you think he was doing it for the military or his own selfish reasons?” Ashlyn asked.

Big Red shrugged, closing his laptop. “Who knows. Either way, it sounds crazy. They would have to test this on actual people. The likelihood of them accomplishing something like that is slim to none.”

Gina shot up in her seat, catching the attention of the other teens.

“Thanks for all your help guys,” she said quickly, grabbing her stuff.

She practically ran about of the library, going out into the hallway. She took deep breaths, trying to gather her thoughts. If what Big Red and Ashlyn were saying was true, Gina was in a lot more trouble than she originally thought. She was unintentionally Oscorp’s lab rat, the result of an experiment they didn’t think was possible. Gina found herself making her way towards the theater room, throwing her bag down on the ground before sitting in front of the piano. She closed her eyes tightly, wrapping her arms around herself as she started shaking.

She was _terrified_.

The teen didn’t ask for any of this. She just wanted everything to go back to the way it was before. She still couldn’t control her newfound strength, trying to get a hold of her senses was still too hard, and she felt like she had to constantly watch over her shoulder. Tears formed in her eyes as she held herself together, curling into a ball on the piano bench. She felt just as alone now than she did when she first moved to East High.

She was a freak.

Gina was fully crying now, covering her mouth to try and muffle her sobs.

“Gina?” The curly-haired teen looked up, her face turning red with embarrassment when she saw EJ standing at the door.

“Are you-”

“I’m fine,” Gina said quickly, wiping her eyes. “I’m okay. Did you need something?”

The senior gave her a look of disbelief, walking over to sit down next to her on the piano bench. “I was looking for Miss Jenn because she wanted to talk to me about one of my scenes, but it seems like I need to be here instead,” EJ replied, causing Gina to look away.

She couldn’t tell him the truth, as much as she just wanted to yell it out. The teen tried to ignore EJ’s look of concern, focusing her gaze on the piano. They sat in silence, the only sounds coming from the cafeteria down the hallway. 

“It’s my mom,” Gina finally said. “She’s been working a lot more and I barely even see her anymore. I know she needs to work, but it’s like I don’t even matter to her. Ever since my dad passed away, it’s just been me and her. But now, I feel just as alone as I did when he died.”

Even if she wasn’t telling the full truth, the teen wasn’t lying at all. She really did miss her mom. Gina had an excuse ready for her broken bedroom door, but her mom just brushed it off, telling her to use a curtain for now. She was supposed to yell at her, maybe laugh a little at the excuse Gina had or ground her. 

She was supposed to act like a _mom_.

The curly-haired teen felt tears forming in her eyes again, squeezing her eyes shut to try and prevent them from falling. EJ didn’t hesitate before pulling her into a hug, resting his head on top of hers. Gina hugged him back, gripping the back of his varsity jacket as she cried into his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry Gina,” he whispered, rubbing her back to try and comfort her.

They sat in silence for awhile, EJ holding her as she continued to cry. 

“I just feel so alone,” she said quietly, gripping his jacket harder. 

EJ sat up, holding the younger teen’s shoulder to get her to look him directly in the eye. “You are _not_ alone. You have me, Ricky, Carlos, and the rest of the theater group. Even when your mom isn’t there, we always will be. Whatever happens, we have your back and you can always come to us no matter what, okay?”

Gina threw her arms around his neck, pulling the senior into another hug. “Thank you.”

EJ smiled, hugging her back. 

Nini was walking towards the theater room, wanting to get there early before practice started so she could use the piano. Once she got there she froze in the doorway, seeing Gina and EJ hugging on the piano bench. The teen felt her heart clench as she watched them pull apart, Gina looking at the senior with the biggest smile on her face. She was quick to turn around, practically running away from the room.

The piano could wait.

\---

Carlos was known to be a very confident person. He was never afraid to speak his mind and he was unapologetically himself.

However, around Seb, Carlos was a _mess_.

He would stutter more often, he blushed more frequently, and he felt his heart beating out of his chest every time Seb smiled at him. Ricky and Gina teased him relentlessly for it, but the teen couldn’t help it. It also didn’t help that Seb needed extra help learning Sharpay’s dance number for Stick to the Status Quo, so the teen was constantly embarrassing himself in front of the boy he was supposed to be helping. The cast was currently running through Act 2, but Carlos pulled Seb aside so they could work on the dance routine. 

“I don’t know Carlos,” the blonde sighed. “It’s like I have two left feet. What if I mess up during the show?”

“Hey, you’re doing great!” the shorter teen argued. “And if you mess up, so what? No show is perfect. But you’re amazing Seb, you have nothing to worry about.”

The blonde smiled and Carlos smiled back awkwardly, his face turning red. “You’re right,” he agreed. “Besides, I have a pretty amazing teacher.”

Carlos felt like he was going to pass out, his face turning even more red than it was before. 

“Alright lets take it from the top!” he squeaked. 

Ricky noticed the interaction between the two teens and smirked, tapping Gina’s shoulder to get her attention. She turned towards them, a sinister smile appearing on her face.

“We’re definitely teasing him about this later right?” Ricky asked. 

“Oh hell yeah,” Gina replied. 

Miss Jenn cleared her throat, looking directly at the two teens and they smiled sheepishly for interrupting the run through. They were currently working on the scene where Troy says joining the play didn’t mean anything to him. Nini sighed before standing up, looking at Ricky nervously. He gave Gina a look before standing up as well, giving Nini a cold gaze. Everyone got up to get in their positions, E.J. giving Gina a small smile which she returned, both teens unaware that Nini was watching them. Miss Jenn noticed the tension but stayed silent, clapping her hands. 

“Alright, lets get this show on the road!” she exclaimed.

Gina turned to face Nini with a neutral expression on her face. “Troy Bolton represents one side of evolution. Our side is the side of Education and accomplishment, the future of civilization. This is the side where you belong.”

Nini flinched at the bitterness in her tone as Ricky delivered his lines. The entire rehearsal was tense and everyone could feel it but were too afraid to say anything. When they finished running through the scene, Miss Jenn let out a frustrated sigh, crossing her arms. 

“Everyone take five,” she announced. “Gina and Nini, can I talk to you two please?”

The teens walked up to her, both of them already knowing where this conversation was about to go.

“Look, this is a tense scene. But despite that fact, Taylor and Gabriella are supposed to be best friends,” Miss Jenn scolded. “Your chemistry is not there. So, I’m going to send you to the classroom next door so you can settle whatever is going on that’s preventing you both from being at your best.”

Both teens started to protest but Miss Jenn cut them off, giving them a look. She motioned for them to leave and they both sighed, grabbing their scripts. Ricky, Kourtney, and EJ watched as the girls left with looks of concern on their faces.

“Gina’s going to kill her,” Ricky muttered.

The other teens silently agreed. 

Gina and Nini stood in silence, both girls refusing to make eye contact with each other. The curly-haired teen flipped through her script, silently wishing the spider gave her the power to teleport so she could be anywhere else but here. 

“Gina, can we please just do this?” Nini begged. “For the show’s sake?”

Gina slammed her script shut, glaring fiercely at the other girl. “Oh I’m sorry, I thought you didn’t trust me? I mean I am still working on my plan to get closer to Ricky to get you to leave the show right? So I don’t see the point.”

Nini flinched, but she knew she had that coming.

“There aren’t enough words to describe how sorry I am for saying that,” she replied, Gina scoffing in response.

Nini bit her lip nervously, trying to find the right words to say.

“You were right,” she finally said, catching the other teen’s attention. “I was jealous, but not because I wanted to get back with Ricky. Before all of this drama, we were best friends. I guess seeing you guys became so close made me realize how much I missed his friendship? But that gave me no right to take it out on you. I really am sorry, Gina.”

The curly-haired teen stayed silent as Nini rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She huffed in annoyance, opening her script back up before moving to sit in the desk next to the other girl. “We might as well work on the cafeteria scene while we’re at it.”

Nini gave her a small smile before opening her script as well. They went through their scenes for the rest of the rehearsal, going back to show Miss Jenn their progress. She smiled, giving them both a thumbs up before going over to talk to the ensemble. Carlos and Ricky ran over to Gina as she was putting her script in her bag.

“Well it looks like you guys both came back in one piece so I’m going to assume it went well,” Ricky said.

“Did you guys reach a truce?” Carlos asked.

“She apologized,” Gina replied. “She said she missed being friends with Ricky and she got jealous.” 

Ricky frowned, looking towards where Nini was standing, talking to Kourtney and Seb about something.

“This doesn’t mean we’re besties now,” Gina added, “I’m still kind of mad at her but for the sake of the show, I’m going to be civil.”

EJ walked over to them, throwing an arm around Gina’s shoulder. “So I heard World War Gina ended before it started?”

Carlos laughed while Gina rolled her eyes, shoving the older teen as he continued to tease her. A small smile appeared on Ricky’s face at the sight, but it dropped as soon as he saw Nini looking their way. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he noticed the teen was staring at Gina and EJ with a look of irritation on her face. Before he could go over to talk to her, Nini grabbed her stuff before leaving, Kourtney and Seb following her out. 

What the hell was that about?

“Ricky?”

He looked up and saw Gina giving him a questioning look. “We’re going to McDonald’s to get some food. You coming?”

He looked back towards where Nini left before facing Gina, a small smile on his face.

“Yeah, lets go.”

\---

Being with her friends made Gina forget about her current predicament. She was reminded of the reality of her situation when she finally got home, seeing the curtain in the place where her door should be. 

She sighed, flopping face-first on top of her bed. She felt her phone buzz in her back pocket, taking it out to see a text from her mom. 

**mom: working late again, won’t be back until tomorrow night**

Gina glared at the message, shutting her phone off. She practically lived alone in the house at this point, barely even getting the opportunity to see her mom in the rare moments that she _is_ home. 

The teen felt another headache coming and got up to go downstairs to take some Advil. Gina walked into the kitchen, opening the medicine cabinet and grabbing the bottle. She tried to move her hand so she could open the bottle, but it refused to move. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, trying to pull her hand away from the cabinet handle.

It wouldn’t budge. 

The teen took a deep breath, trying not to freak out. She went to put the bottle of Advil down so she could use her other hand, but as she let it go, the bottle was still stuck to her hand.

Okay, _now_ she was freaking out.

She grunted, pulling as hard as she could, which resulted in her pulling the cabinet door off of its hinges. She yelped, falling on her back from the force. As she hit the ground, both the pills and the door finally came off of her hands, but the Advil hit the ground hard, causing the bottle to break and send pills flying everywhere. The door shattered as soon as it hit the floor, pieces of wood all over the floor as well. Gina stayed on her back, looking at the mess around her. She _really_ needed to get this under the control. 

But first, she needed more Advil.

\---

“You’re being _completely_ unreasonable.”

“And you’re a complete _idiot_ , but what else is new.”

Todd glared at Harry who just smirked, leaning back against the wall behind him. They were in the genetics lab, scientists moving fast around them. Even since subject 49 was found dead, Todd sent everyone on a manhunt to find out what happened. He tried to get something out of Doctor Opal since she was one of the people there when it happened, but she refused to say anything. So, of course, Todd took care of her.

He had no time for incompetence. 

“The stupid spider is dead, so what? You have plenty of other test subjects,” Harry snapped, motioning towards the glass wall of organisms. “If you don’t stop this ridiculous goose chase, the company is going to suffer. You’re the CEO for fucks sake.”

“That stupid spider was going to _help_ the company,” Todd argued, his eyes filled with rage as he glared at the younger boy. 

“Help the company? Or help you?” Harry shot back.

They continued to glare at each other, both of them refusing to back down. One of the scientists approached them hesitantly, his tablet shaking in their hands.

“M-Mr. Wilkins? Mr. Osborn?” he asked nervously.

He let out a squeak as they both glared at him. The scientist cleared his throat, trying to keep his composure. “We found that the spider died the day we had that school over. That spider died because it essentially transferred all of its properties to a person.”

Todd shoved Harry out of the way, standing over the scientist who gulped. 

“What the hell are you saying?” he hissed.

“The test was successful, we were able to merge that spider’s DNA with that of a human being. However, we have no idea who that person is,” the scientist replied. “We think it was one of the students from the trip. However, several different schools came to see the lab, so we have no idea which group it could’ve been. The spider could’ve been dead for days for all we know”

Todd’s eyes narrowed, clenching his fists in anger. 

They spent _billions_ to run these tests, only for it to end up going to some clueless high school student? That spider was the key to human mutation. That was _his_ research. He was the one who was supposed to get bitten, not some stupid kid. 

The scientist yelped as Todd grabbed him by his lab coat, his eyes filled with rage. “You’re going to use that dead spider and replicate whatever you did to it the first time, _now_.”

“W-we can’t, s-sir,” he replied. “The body is useless to us now.” Todd threw the scientist to the ground, causing everyone to pause at the commotion. Harry rolled his eyes, feeling slightly bad for the scientist who was trembling in fear on the ground. “Then you’re going to find out whichever god damn high school was here the day the spider died, find the person it bit, _AND BRING THEM TO ME_!” he yelled. 

The scientist nodded frantically before standing up, running away. Everyone else went back to work, making sure to avoid the eyes of their boss. Todd turned towards Harry who just had a bored expression on his face.

“You’re overly dramatic for no reason,” he sighed, “Come get me when you’re done being a drama queen and actually decide to act like a CEO and run this company _properly_.” 

Harry turned to leave, but Todd stopped him in his tracks. He smirked, an idea forming in his head while the teen glared at him.

“ _What_?”

“I think it’s time that you finally go back to school.”

\---

Gina rode her bike to the nearest convenience store. On her way there, it really gave her time to think.

She needed to make sure not to use her abilities in public. She barely knows how to control them and if people started catching on that she was different from before, Oscorp could catch word of it. Besides, she wasn’t a superhero. Gina would just have a find a way to live her life normally and adjust to her newfound abilities. Her only responsibility as far as she was concerned was to be a normal high school student.

A normal high school student who could rip a door off its hinges. 

She finally made it to the store, leaning her bike against the building before walking inside. She smiled at the cashier before walking towards the medicine aisle, looking for Advil. The door opened and someone else walked in, but Gina didn’t pay attention to them.

Until she felt the tingling sensation in the back of her head. 

She froze, her hand hovering over the Advil when she heard the click of a gun. She quickly crouched down, seeing a man in a black hood pointing a gun at the cashier who was crying, stuffing money into a bag. Gina crouched back down, hugging herself as she took deep breaths. The robber would take the money and leave, it would be okay.

“There’s no way that’s all the cash you have.”

_Shit._

“That’s all we have I swear,” the cashier assured, her voice trembling.

The robber grabbed her hair and pulled her towards him, pressing his gun against her head. She cried out in pain, sobbing and begging the man to let her go. Gina glared, the tingling sensation becoming even more prominent as her eyes filled her rage.

Fuck it.

She looked around, noticing a pile of masks on the ground in front of her. She grabbed the top one which, ironically, had a huge spider in the center of it. Gina pulled it over her face and put on her hood, looking back towards the robber. He was getting really angry now, and if Gina didn’t act now she knew the robber wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. She took a deep breath before standing up, the cashier’s eyes going wide as she spotted her. Gina had no idea how to fight and she barely had control over what was going on with her.

But that didn’t matter.

Someone’s life was on the line, and the teen couldn’t sit around and let it happen when she knew she could do something to help. 

“ _Hey!_ ” she yelled.

The robber turned, glaring at her while the cashier let out a sob. “Let her go. _N_ _ow_.”

The man smirked, pointing his gun towards Gina. He pulled the trigger and the cashier screamed in horror. The back of Gina’s head was on fire, and time seemed to slow down.

This is exactly what happened with Mr. Rodriguez before he dropped the snacks. 

She moved away from the bullet, smirking when the robber looked at her in shock. He growled, letting go of the cashier before shooting at Gina again. She kept dodging, moving closer to the robber as he continued to shoot. When she got close enough she grabbed the gun, crushing it in her grip before throwing it behind her. He threw a punch and she dodged, grabbing his arm before throwing him over her shoulder. He tried to kick her from the ground but she flipped away, landing on top of the cashier’s counter crouched like a spider.

The robber got up, pulling out a knife from his back pocket before he yelled, charging at Gina. She moved out of the way of the knife, kicking the man in the face which sent him flying back into the shelves, knocking him out cold. The cashier slowly peaked out from her hiding place, her eyes going wide when she saw the mess. Gina stood up, looking down at her hands before looking back at the robber. 

_Holy shit._

Did she just do that?

“You saved my life,” the cashier whispered, the teen whipping her head around to face her. 

“Um, yeah I guess?” Gina replied, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

“How did you even do that?!” the woman exclaimed.

The teen’s eyes went wide with panic and she laughed nervously, moving towards the exit. “Well I have to go, like right now, but you should probably call the police.” Before the cashier could say anything else, Gina grabbed a bottle of Advil that fell on the floor. She took out a ten-dollar bill and slapped it on the counter before running out of the store, grabbing her bike and riding away. As soon as she got home, she walked into the kitchen, leaving the Advil near the kitchen sink.

Her headache was gone now.

She looked at the floor, pieces of wood and Advil still all over the place just as she left it. She sighed, leaning against the sink and pulling off the mask as she tried to process what the hell she just did. 

Well, so much for the whole “not using her abilities in public” plan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a quick note that luke mullen (who played T.J. on andi mack) is harry osborn in this story :) hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!


	5. the vigilante

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As much as she wants to pretend like the spider bite never happened, she can’t. No matter how hard she could try, she would never be able to go back to living how she did before the bite. 
> 
> She couldn’t just be Gina Porter anymore.

Gina was _really_ regretting not asking the cashier not to say anything about what she saw. 

Everyone at school was talking about the attempted robbery and due to her newly enhanced senses, the teen could here _everything_. 

“I heard she almost killed the guy.”

“Where the hell did she even come from?”

“Do you think she’s like a government agent or something?”

“The police are looking for her, do you think they’re going to arrest her?”

Gina walked to her algebra class with her head down, collapsing in her seat. She buried her head in her arms, groaning in annoyance. She should’ve just called the police. That’s what any rational person would’ve done. The robber didn’t even notice she was in the store. The teen sighed, sitting up and running her hands over her face. She needed to stop lying to herself. She knew damn well if she called the police the robber would have shot that cashier and ran away. Gina didn’t have time to be rational at that moment. 

She had the ability to help, and she did. But that was it.

She couldn’t risk doing something like that again, especially if Oscorp caught wind of the incident. The bell finally rang and the teacher walked in as everyone was getting their books out. All Gina wanted to do was get through the day without having to hear about the robbery over and over again.

Of course, luck was not on her side.

As the day went on, it seemed as if every single student heard about what happened the previous night. Hell, even Mr. Mazzara talked about it in class. As soon as the bell rang for lunch Gina ran out of his classroom, making her way towards her locker. She was praying for a peaceful lunch period but knowing her friends, that would be impossible. The teen felt the tingling sensation in the back of her head again, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she looked around.

Gina figured out that this feeling meant there was danger coming her way, but she didn’t any potential threats anywhere.

“GINA!”

Never mind.

Carlos and Ricky ran over to her as the teen grabbed her lunch and closed her locker, facing her friends with a bored expression on her face. “Let me guess, you guys heard about the bank robbery?”

“Dude, it’s all over the news!” Ricky exclaimed. “Everyone is calling her a superhero!”

Gina gulped nervously, tightening her grip on her backpack straps. 

“When the cashier explained what happened, she said the vigilante had a mask with a spider on it,” Carlos added. “People are calling her 'the spider-person' which I think is a stupid name.”

“I’m sorry, vigilante? Superhero?” Gina questioned.

All she did was stop a robbery, not stop an asteroid from hitting the planet.

“If it weren’t for her, that cashier would’ve died,” Ricky said. “That makes her a hero in my book.”

The teens made their way towards the cafeteria as Gina thought about what Ricky said. She has been trying to tell herself what she did wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was. If she didn’t go to the convenience store that night, instead of a news story about a mysterious person saving the cashier’s life, it would’ve been a tragic story of a loss. 

Gina was broken out of her thoughts when Carlos tapped her shoulder, motioning behind her. Nini was standing there, biting her lip nervously.

“Hey, so, Kourtney and Ashlyn had to go work on a project and I didn’t feel like spending my lunch period alone, so would it be okay if I sat with you guys?” she asked.

The curly-haired teen couldn’t help but smirk at the slight british accent she heard when the shorter girl spoke. Nini’s face turned red when she realized and Gina shrugged, sitting down. “Sure.”

She ignored the looks of shock from Carlos and Ricky and Nini smiled gratefully before sitting down. The teen _did_ say she was going to be civil. But that didn’t mean things were going to go back to the way they used to be.

They sat in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say to each other. Even if Gina and Nini did form a truce, things were still tense between the two. Ricky and Nini still haven’t talked it out and Carlos was just in the middle of it all. Nini was about to say something, but she stopped when she saw EJ and Big Red running towards them. The senior sat next to Ricky while Big Red placed himself next to Gina.

“We need you guys to settle our argument,” EJ said. “You heard about the robbery last night right?”

Ricky rolled his eyes as Carlos snickered. “No, we haven’t heard about the thing that the entire school has been talking about for the entire day.”

The senior stuck his tongue out at him in retaliation as Ricky continued to tease him.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Big Red cut in, giving them a look, “Don’t you guys find it weird that this spider-person just came out of nowhere?”

EJ groaned in annoyance at the younger teen’s words. “Why can’t you just give her the benefit of the doubt? She was at the right place at the right time and she saved that woman’s life! There isn’t a conspiracy theory behind everything.”

“I’m not saying she’s a bad guy, but it’s weird,” Big Red emphasized. “I mean from what the cashier said, this spider-person doesn’t even sound human! Where did she come from? Why is she here of all places?”

Gina felt sick to her stomach as Big Red rambled on, her appetite suddenly disappearing. Did people see her as a threat _already_? It hasn’t even been a full day since the incident happened. What if people start connecting the dots? What if-

“EJ’s right, I just think she’s trying to help,” Nini argued, breaking Gina out of her thoughts. “I get that you have questions, but the bottom line is that she saved someone’s life. Shouldn’t that be enough to show that she’s just here to help?”

Everyone looked at her after she spoke, her face turning red in embarrassment from the attention. Big Red huffed in frustration, resting his head in his hands. “You’re probably right, I’m just being paranoid.”

Gina was still looking at Nini, taking in what the other girl said. As much as she wants to pretend like the spider bite never happened, she can’t. No matter how hard she could try, she would never be able to go back to living how she did before the bite. 

She couldn’t just be Gina Porter anymore. Nini was right, she just wanted to help people. If she could use her abilities for something good, shouldn’t she?

“Also, can we _please_ stop referring to her as ‘the spider-person’?” Carlos added.

“Well, what else could we call her?” Ricky asked. 

“Spider-Woman.”

Everyone turned towards Nini again who was looking down at her food, her face an even darker shade of red than before. “We can call her Spider-Woman.”

A small smile appeared on Gina’s face as she looked at the other teen. Nini looked at her with wide eyes but returned a shy smile and Gina quickly turned away, her cheeks warming up slightly as she cleared her throat.

“Yeah, Spider-Woman. I like that.”

\---

Gina never threw the mask away. She was sitting in her bedroom now, holding it in her hands. She rubbed her hands over the spider design, her thoughts running rampant through her head. She knew that she wanted to help people, but she didn’t know where to start. For one thing, she couldn't go out with the mask and her hoodie every time someone needed help.

And how would she even know when someone needed her help? It was a coincidence that she was at the convenience store at the same time the robber came in. She was broken out of her thoughts when the doorbell rang. She shoved the mask in her drawer, burying it under all of her clothes. Gina ran downstairs to open the door, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw Kourtney standing there with her sketchbook. 

“Hey Kourt,” she greeted. “Not to be rude, but what are you doing here? I thought you and Nini were hanging out?”

“We were supposed to, but her moms needed her home,” Kourtney replied. “I wanted to get her thoughts on some costume ideas I had, but I remembered you having some really good notes about one of Nini’s outfits so I thought you wouldn’t mind looking?”

Gina gave her a small smile and nodded in agreement, letting the other girl come inside. They went to sit in the dining room and Kourtney pulled out her sketchbook, laying about her drawings. Gina’s eyes were filled with amazement as she looked at all of the sketches, smiling slightly when she saw sketches of costumes for Taylor. 

“So Miss Jenn asked me if I could try and add more outfits with color, so I did that but I also tried adding my own ideas to everything,” Kourtney explained.

“These are amazing!” Gina said in awe. “Can you please teach me how to be this talented?”

Kourtney smiled, a small blush forming on her face. “This coming from you? The best dancer to ever walk the halls of East High?”

Gina pretended to be offended, gasping dramatically.

“Don’t disrespect Kaycee Stroh like that!” she scolded playfully. “Hip-hop is her passion!”

Kourtney stood up, trying to get into character. “I love to pop and lock and jam and break!”

Both of them burst out into laughter, continuing to quote from the movie. Gina and Kourtney didn’t talk that much before the musical and despite the drama that happened with Nini, the girls grew closer. Gina felt like she was closer with everyone involved with the show and she couldn’t be more grateful. As the teens calmed down, they started talking about the musical as Gina continued flipping through the teen’s sketchbook. One page was sticking out and she took it out, her jaw dropping at what she saw.

Kourtney paused her story when she noticed Gina wasn’t listening anymore and nervously laughed when she saw the picture the other girl was holding.

“You drew this?” Gina asked in disbelief.

In the corner of the page, there was a low-quality photo from when Gina landed on the cashier's counter after flipping away from the robber. On the actual paper, Kourtney had a sketch of an actual suit. It was just a sketch so there weren’t any colors, but it looked like something an actual superhero would wear. 

“I just thought it would be cool to draw a suit for her,” Kourtney replied. “No offense to her, but fighting bad guys in a hoodie and a cheap mask is a crime within itself.”

Gina snorted, looking back at the sketch. The teen thought about her words carefully before she spoke.

“So, if you were to actually design this suit for her, how would you go about it?”

Kourtney smirked, flipping through her sketchbook as she went into a deep explanation, Gina taking mental notes of everything the other girl was saying.

  
  


\---

“See, you totally got it!”

Seb smiled as he did the last dance move, Carlos clapping enthusiastically as he finished. Miss Jenn decided it would be best to hold a rehearsal focusing on the dances that still needed some improvement, so Seb and Carlos were the only people in the theater room along with some of the other dancers in the show.

Carlos hugged the blonde tightly, pulling away with the biggest smile on his face. “You’re going to _own_ the stage!”

Seb laughed, shyly smiling at the other boy. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this if it wasn’t for you Carlos. You really are the best!”

The shorter teen blushed furiously as he was pulled into another hug, his heart racing. They separated and the blonde gave him another smile before going to grab his stuff. Carlos took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.

The teen has been thinking about how to ask Seb out all week.

His crush has grown to the point where he was convinced that if he didn’t say anything soon he would explode. At first he wanted to do a big grand gesture, but after talking to Ricky and Gina, he ultimately decided it would be best if he just spoke from his heart.

If he could gather enough courage to speak and _not_ fuck this up, that would be great.

“Seb?”

The blonde threw his bag over his shoulder as he looked at Carlos with a kind smile.

“What’s up?”

Carlos took another deep breath before speaking. “These past few weeks that I’ve been able to get to know you have been pretty amazing, and along the way, I also got to see what a great person you are. I was hoping that maybe you would want to hang out with me sometime? As more than friends?”

Seb didn’t say anything right away and the shorter teen’s face turned red with embarrassment. 

“You know what, never mind, I’m sorry-”

The blonde moved closer to Carlos before kissing on the cheek, smiling softly as he pulled away.

“I would love to, I really like you Carlos,” Seb replied. “We could go to the roller skater rink after rehearsal tomorrow?”

Carlos could only nod in response and Seb giggled, smiling wider. “Then its a date! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

He waved before walking out of the room, leaving a speechless Carlos behind. The teen touched where Seb kissed him, his face a shade of red that could rival Big Red’s hair. He had a date tomorrow, with _Seb._

He had a date.

He squealed, throwing his hands up in victory. The teen grabbed his stuff before skipping down the hallway as he left with the biggest smile on his face. 

\---

After Kourtney showed Gina her suit design, the teen couldn’t stop thinking about it. When the other girl left to go home, Gina rode her bike down to the nearest fabric store and got all the materials Kourtney mentioned. The teen already knew how to sew since she used to make her own costumes for plays when she first joined theater.

She stayed up all night making the suit.

Gina made a lot of alterations to Kourtney’s design as she went on, and the teen was pretty proud of the end result. She even ended up adding a hood to the costume to help conceal her identity better when she did go out. The fact that she made a suit to fight crime was insane, but what she was about to do was even crazier. It was her study hall period and she decided to see Mr. Mazzara who was sitting at his desk, working on a robot when she walked into his classroom.

Last night when Gina was making her suit, she took a break and went downstairs to get a snack. She grabbed a granola bar and went to go upstairs, but she decided to go back and grab a water bottle at the last second. When she turned her wrist towards the fridge, a web shot out of it and stuck to the fridge handle.

A _spider_ web.

Gina screamed at the sight, flailing her arms in panic which only resulted in webs shooting out of her other wrist. It was _not_ easy to clean all of it afterward.

Even if the teen was a little disgusted, she saw this as an opportunity. Spiders use webs to swing around all the time, so why couldn’t she? However, trying to use webs from just her wrist sounded painful, so that’s where Mr. Mazzara came in. She had to be discreet, but if anyone could help her come up with something it was him.

He had his usual annoyed expression on his face when Gina walked in, turning his attention back to his robot as she stood in front of his desk.

“Is this urgent Miss Porter?” he asked. “I have to get this robot fixed by the end of the day for the robotics club and it needs my full attention.”

“Well, it’s kind of stupid, but I just had a rhetorical question for you,” she replied.

Mr. Mazzarra gave her an unimpressed look but made no move to tell her to leave. “So, lets just say, hypothetically, I wanted to shoot silly string from my wrist as like a prank. Do you know what could be built to make that possible?”

Gina rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly as her teacher gave her a judgmental look.

“Well, you could make mini shooters for your wrist,” he replied. “If you could build a trigger mechanism small enough, it would be like a mini water gun except it would wrap around your wrist.”

The teen nodded, making a mental note to ask Ashlyn for her help later.

“Thank you Mr. Mazzara, good luck with your robot!”

He just waved her off as she ran out of his classroom with an excited smile on her face. She walked into the library as she sent a quick text to Ashlyn, asking her advice about what materials she could use to build the mini shooters. Gina frowned slightly at the thought, looking at her wrists.

Web-shooters would probably be a better name to call them.

As she sent the text, she looked to see Carlos and Ricky in their usual corner of the library and went to join them. “There you are,” Ricky said as she sat down, “Where did you go?”

“I had to ask Mr. Mazzara a question for robotics,” Gina replied, which wasn’t a complete lie. “So what did I miss?”

Carlos was blushing hard but he had a huge smile on his face and his eyes were filled with excitement. “Seb and I have a date tonight!”

Ricky and Gina squealed simultaneously, immediately bombarding the other teen with questions. The librarian had to come over and tell them to quiet down several times but eventually gave up after seeing how excited they seemed to be. “You guys are already the cutest couple and you’re not even officially dating yet,” Gina teased.

“We’re really happy for you Carlos,” Ricky added. 

Carlos smiled and held their hands, squeezing them gently. “You guys are the best.”

“Alright, do you have an outfit picked?” Gina asked.

Carlos scoffed, smirking. “Look who you’re talking to. I’ve been thinking about this all week. I have _several_ outfits planned.”

Ricky rolled his eyes playfully and Gina just laughed as Carlos pulled up his outfit options on his phone, and the teens spend the rest of study hall helping him decide which one was the best.

Ashlyn was a little confused from Gina’s questions when she found the teen later on but helped the other girl out nonetheless. After rehearsal ended, they went into Mr. Mazzara’s lab to borrow his materials and they were able to make prototypes. Gina thanked the other girl for her help before they parted ways to go home. When Gina reached her house, she intended on trying out the suit and web-shooters immediately, but that changed when she saw her mom’s car in the driveway. She got off of her bike and went up to the door, her hand hovering over the handle.

She knew she should be happy that her mom was finally home, but the teen couldn’t help but feel angry. It’s been days since she’s last heard from her mom without any explanation of why she’s been working so late. Gina took a deep breath before going inside, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion when she saw her mom’s suitcase by the door. Her heart dropped as her mind went to the worst possible scenario.

They could _not_ move again. Especially not now.

“Mom?” Gina called.

Her mom came downstairs holding a bunch of bags. The teen didn’t hesitate before going to take the bags from her, not even flinching from the weight of them. Her mom looked surprised as she watched her daughter rest the heavy bags on the kitchen counter with ease.

“Wow, I really must be getting old if I can barely lift bags by myself anymore,” her mom joked. “Have you been going to the gym recently?”

“No,” Gina replied shortly. “Maybe if you were actually home you would know that.”

Her mom frowned at that, a tense atmosphere growing in between them.

“Honey-”

“Are we moving again?” Gina asked sharply, cutting her mom off.

“No,” her mom answered.

Gina sighed in relief, leaning against the counter. “Then why do you have all these bags?”

Her mom stayed silent, looking at her daughter with a guilty expression.

“I’m going to be gone for a couple of weeks,” she finally said, causing Gina’s eyes to go wide in disbelief. “They really need me right now and lord knows we need the money.”

“Since when have you had to pack your bags and leave?!” the teen snapped. “What the hell is going on mom??? Is there something you’re not telling me???”

“Watch your tone with me young lady,” her mom warned. “I understand you’re upset-”

“Upset?!?!” Gina cried. “Of course I’m fucking upset! I basically live by myself now, you’re never here anymore! How can you-”

“ _ENOUGH!_ ” her mom yelled, cutting her off.

The teen stayed silent as she looked at her mom with tears in her eyes.

“When did you decide to stop being a mom?” Gina whispered, her voice breaking.

Her mom’s expression softened as a regretful look took over her face. “Sometimes, as a mother, you have to sacrifice things in order to provide. You’ll understand when you’re older. I’m sorry honey, but I have to go now.”

Gina stayed silent and when her mom tried to hug her she moved away, hugging herself tightly.

“I was wrong,” she said harshly. “You and dad aren’t different at all, are you?”

Her mom didn’t say anything after that. She grabbed her bags before slamming the door shut behind her. That’s when Gina let the tears fall, her sobs filling the silence of the empty house.

Once again, she was all alone.

\---

Ricky was in his bedroom trying to work on his history project when his dad walked in.

“Hey, your mom and her boyfriend are here for dinner,” Mr. Bowen said.

Ricky purposely ignored him, reading from a section in his history textbook. Mike sighed, sitting down at the edge of his son’s bed. “Look, I know you’re mad at your mom right now, but she wants to make it up to you.”

“She could make it up by leaving,” Ricky snapped.

Mr. Bowen looked at his son in sympathy, not knowing what to say to that. He knew Lynne messed up, _big time_ , but both she and Ricky refused to tell him what happened. They were supposed to have this dinner earlier, but since Ricky stayed over with Carlos they had to push it back.

The fact that Ricky couldn’t even come back _home_ that night to face his mother was extremely concerning. “If I knew what happened, maybe it would help me understand why you’re acting like this.”

The teen froze at his father’s words but made no move to respond. Before Mike could say anything else, Ricky slammed his history textbook shut before getting up to go downstairs. Mr. Bowen sighed frustration before getting up to follow him.

Ricky paused at the top of the stairs when he saw his mom who gave him a nervous smile. A man who he assumed was her boyfriend was standing next to her, but the teen could tell the man’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. His dad motioned for him to go down and he did cautiously, avoiding making eye contact with his mom’s new boyfriend.

“Hi sweetheart,” Lynne greeted. 

Ricky gave her a fake smile and his dad elbowed him, giving him a stern look. The teen huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“Hi mom, finally decide to make an appearance?” Ricky asked sarcastically. 

Mike pinched his nose as a hurt look crossed Lynne’s face. The man beside her cleared his throat before holding his hand out. “Ricky, right? Lynne has told me so much about you. My name is Todd, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

Ricky hesitated before shaking his hand, giving the man a wary look. He tried to pretend not to see the arm he had around his mom’s waist as Todd greeted his dad as well.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I brought someone with me I wanted to introduce-”

“I can’t believe you made me park the stupid car,” Harry complained, cutting Todd off as he walked inside the house.

Ricky’s eyes went wide as Harry made eye contact with him, freezing on the spot.

Was he dreaming?

“You’re Harry Osborn,” he whispered, the taller teen smirking smugly in response.

He walked up to Ricky, taking his hand in his own before kissing the back of it. “Mrs. Bowen, you didn’t tell me your son was so charming.”

The teen’s face turned a dark shade of red and he pulled his hand back. Mike coughed, giving Harry a stern look as the teen just smiled innocently.

“Harry works with me at Oscorp as an intern,” Todd explained. “He’s leading a team to try and find a cure for Norman’s sickness.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to find a cure, you’re pretty smart,” Ricky replied, his face turning even more red when he realized what he said.

Harry laughed, throwing his arm around the younger teen’s shoulders as he gave Todd a look. “I like him.”

Ricky was convinced his face was permanently red at this point. Todd and Lynne laughed while Mike gave Harry another warning look and the teen put his hands up, feigning innocence once again. 

“Well, the food isn’t going to eat itself so I hope you guys are hungry,” Mr. Bowen said.

\---

Gina was sitting on top of her roof when her phone started buzzing frantically. She quickly sat up, her eyes going wide as she read through the texts from the group chat she has with Ricky and Carlos. 

**minions movie apologists**

**ricky: SOS SOS SOS**

**ricky: CODE RED CODE RED CODE MF REDDDDDDDD**

**carlos: if this another joke about how hot bob the minion is ricky I stg-**

**carlos: SEB IS OUT HERE LOOKING ADORABLE AS FUCK SO THIS BETTER BE IMPORTANT**

**ricky: THAT WAS ONE TIME**

**ricky: but aw i’m glad ur date is going well :)**

**ricky: anyway IM FREAKING THE FUCK OUT BC HARRY MF OSBORN IS IN MY HOUSE**

**carlos: WHAT?!?!**

**carlos: SAY SIKE RN**

**ricky: IM HAVING A MENTAL BREAKDOWN**

**carlos: why is he even at ur house in the first place?!?**

**ricky: my mom’s new stupid boyfriend t*dd is the new ceo of oscorp & thought it would be a good idea to bring harry along to meet me & my dad**

**carlos: THE CEO OF OSCORP?!? holy shit-**

**ricky: harry,,, also,,, has been,,,, flirtingwithmeallnight**

**carlos: EXCUSE ME???????? HARRY OSBORN IS FLIRTING WITH U?!?!**

**ricky: HE KISSED MY MF HAND I WANTED TO DIE**

**ricky: im a walking bi disaster send help**

**carlos: OMG UR FALLING IN LOVE WITH A FAMOUS BAD BOY**

**carlos: wow ur literally y/n**

**ricky: STFU**

**ricky: but he told me t*dd wants him to go back to school & my mom suggested east high,,, so he’s going to be going to school with us,,,**

**carlos: HOLY SHIT???? RICKY WHAT THE HELL**

**ricky: I KNOW**

**ricky: he keeps telling me how cute I am I cant take this**

**carlos: oh god im gonna have to witness yall flirting at school**

**ricky: SHUT UP IM NOT EVEN FLIRTING ITS ALL HIM**

**carlos: okay y/n whatever u say**

**carlos: omfg ur gonna show up to school wearing his leather jacket and be THAT wattpad couple**

**ricky: FUCK U**

Gina put her phone down as she started to freak out, her hands shaking. Her head was pounding and she felt like she was going to go completely insane. Why the _hell_ would Harry Osborn come to East High of all places? And the CEO of Oscorp is Mrs. Bowen’s new boyfriend???

Did they know about Gina? Is that why all of this is happening?

Gina tried to take deep breaths as tears started to blur her vision. She grabbed her phone as her hands started shaking even more, opening the group chat back up again. She wanted to tell Ricky and Carlos _everything_. She wanted to tell them about her mom, the spider bite, the convenience store. About how she didn’t feel safe and about how she felt this obligation to help people with her newfound abilities.

She wanted to tell them how she felt like an outsider all over again.

Gina was so tired of holding it all in. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, but the teen made no move to type anything. She took the time to gather her thoughts and the reality of the situation, knowing what the only rational thing to do was. 

**gina: harry & ricky huh,,,, so whens the wedding?**

**carlos: I already have the guest list ready ;)**

**ricky: so its just fuck ricky lives tonight huh**

She was running away from her problems. 

Like mother like daughter, right?


	6. the new kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina really wished she could talk to someone about this, but no one would fully understand what she’s going through right now.
> 
> And that hurts more than anything.

Gina was going to stop.

She was fully prepared to get rid of the suit she made and attempt to just act like nothing ever happened. The thought of both Harry Osborn and the CEO of Oscorp getting closer to Ricky terrified her. Getting closer to him meant getting closer to her, and who knows what Oscorp would do to them if they found out what really happened. Gina wasn’t stupid, she knew Harry didn’t just want to come to East High all of a sudden.

Hell, if she’s being honest, he’s too smart to be going to their school anyway.

Oscorp was getting closer to finding out what happened and she didn’t want to take the risk of getting caught. She was done.

But then Saturday night happened. 

Gina took her bike and went to find the biggest dumpster she could find, fully intending on getting rid of both the suit and web-shooters she made. She groaned in annoyance when she felt rain droplets hitting her, pulling over near an alley so she could put her hood up to protect her hair from the rain.

That’s when she felt it.

The tingling sensation was back, Gina wincing at how intense it was. She looked around and tried to see if anyone was approaching her, but she didn’t see any danger and the rain was starting to pour down even harder. She huffed in annoyance before getting on her bike deciding it was probably just a fluke.

“Please just leave me _alone_.”

Gina froze, letting her bike fall to the ground as she looked into the alley. She saw three men cornering another person against the wall, her eyes narrowing when she saw them digging through a bag that clearly didn’t belong to them. If it weren’t for her enhanced hearing, Gina wouldn’t even of heard the person.

The teen didn’t even hesitate before grabbing her own bag, looking around before hiding behind a car parked next to her to pull on the suit. She took a deep breath as she put on the mask, looking at herself in the car window.

She can _do_ this.

Gina was going to run headfirst into the alley, but she paused to look at the wall as an idea formed in her head.

Spiders can crawl up walls, can’t they? If a bottle of Advil could stick to her hands, so could a wall. At least that was her reasoning.

She took a deep breath before placing her hands on the wall, crawling up. She silently cheered in her head as she climbed up with ease, moving quickly when she heard the men getting frustrated. When she reached the top of the building she looked down just as one of the men pulled out a knife. The person flinched at the sight, moving as far away as they could.

“I told you that’s all I have!” they cried. “Just let me go home!”

“And let you go snitch to the cops? I don’t think so,” one of the men sneered. “I’d rather not go back to prison.” Gina aimed her web-shooter at the man holding the knife, throwing it away as soon as the web touched it. The men started scrambling around, their eyes going wide in fear.

“What the hell was that?!?”

The teen jumped off of the roof, landing a kick on top of the man who was rummaging through the person’s bag. He stumbled back and she punched him in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall behind him. His partners watched as he slumped to the ground unconscious before looking back at Gina.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” one of them asked.

“I could ask you the same question,” the teen shot back. “Don’t you guys have anything better to do than harass innocent people?”

The other man’s eyes widened in recognition, smirking. “You’re that freak from the convenience store aren’t you? What, you trying to be a superhero?” Gina didn’t hesitate before shooting a web at his chest, pulling him towards her before throwing him at the other guy. They both yelled as they tumbled to the ground and the teen smirked at the sight. 

“Yeah I guess I am,” she replied, taunting them. “But I’m a pretty damn good one aren’t I?”

The men just groaned in pain in response. Gina webbed them up to make sure they couldn’t try to attack her again before turning towards the person they attacked. The teen froze in place as soon as she laid her eyes on them.

She should've recognized his voice.

Rico was staring right back at her in shock, clutching his bag against his chest. Gina slowly picked up the items that the men dropped, handing them back to the other teen cautiously. “Did they hurt you?”

He shook his head, standing up. “They could’ve done a lot worse if you didn’t show up.”

Gina tried not to think about that scenario as she felt bile rise in her throat at the thought.

“I called the police, so they should be here soon to take these guys away,” Rico said. “I really can’t thank you enough.”

The curly-haired teen noticed he was slightly trembling, tears forming in his eyes. 

“Do you want me to drop you off at home? I think the police can handle this on their own,” Gina offered.

She wasn’t even surprised when Kaden answered the door when she and Rico arrived. He was on the phone with the police but immediately dropped his phone when the shorter teen smiled at him before pulling him into a tight hug. Rico hugged him back immediately, burying his face in the blonde’s shoulder.

Rico and Kaden have been dating for a couple of months now, and Gina remembered that they were talking about spending the weekend together. Rico was probably on his way to Kaden’s when he was ambushed. Kaden looked up, giving her a grateful smile. Gina waved back in response before she left. As soon as she got home, she ran towards the nearest trashcan and ripped off her mask before throwing up. 

What the _hell_ was she thinking?

If she hadn't gone out tonight, Rico could’ve died. This was a completely different situation from the cashier. Rico was her _friend_. They bonded during dance rehearsals and she even helped him plan out cute date ideas to surprise Kaden with. Sure she wasn’t as close to him as she was with Ricky and Carlos, but that didn’t matter. He was still important to her, and she almost lost him. She couldn't risk that again.

Fuck Oscorp, they could pry Spider-Woman from her cold dead hands. 

Ever since that night, as soon as rehearsal ended, Gina went out to patrol the area. It was easy for her to sneak out since her mom was barely home, and she refused to go back home until she checked the entire neighborhood. Being Spider-Woman on top of musical rehearsals and school was exhausting, but Gina refused to stop. She couldn't let anyone else get hurt because of her. 

If that meant staying out until three in the morning every night, so be it.

\---

Ricky was still convinced he was dreaming.

Harry Osborn was sitting across from him eating breakfast as if it was just another normal day. Today was the first day he was attending East High and he asked Ricky for a ride. Carlos teased him relentlessly about it, but EJ and Gina surprisingly had nothing to say. 

EJ just looked irritated and Gina was too tired to say anything. He was worried about both of them and Carlos didn’t even know what was going on. The teen was broken out of his thoughts when Harry put his hand on top of his. 

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” he questioned, smirking when Ricky blushed.

“Nothing important. We should probably get ready to leave,” the younger teen replied.

He pulled his hand away and grabbed his car keys, letting out a squeak when Harry appeared behind him with a serious look on his face.

“Just a warning, it’s not going to be easy to get into the building,” he said. “Todd asked the school to try and just act like I’m a normal student, but we both know that’s not going to happen.”

Ricky gave him a sympathetic look as the older teen huffed in annoyance. “How do you deal with all of this, being in the spotlight all the time?”

Harry gave him a tight smile.

“I had to force myself to adjust, I was basically born in the spotlight,” he replied. “It never gets easier.”

Ricky nudged him, a small blush forming on his face. “Well I’m here now, so, if you ever want a friend to talk to, at least you have one person in your corner.”

Harry frowned slightly and looked away as the other teen faced him with a worried expression. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I just, I never had a real friend before,” the older teen replied. “People usually only want to be around me because of my father.”

Ricky hesitated before taking the boy’s hands in his. “Your father doesn't define who you are, and those people are missing out on getting to know the real you because to me? You're pretty cool.”

Harry looked down at their hands, looking back up to smirk as Ricky’s blush darkened.

“Are you trying to seduce me Bowen?” he teased.

Ricky laughed nervously and pulled his hand away, quickly making his way towards the door. 

“I’ll be waiting in the car!” he squeaked as his blush grew darker.

As soon as he left, Harry pulled out his phone to text Todd.

**harry: it’s definitely not bowen**

**todd: damn it**

**todd: still stay close to him, the person we’re looking for could be connected to him in some way**

**todd: we could use him**

Harry glared at the last message and shoved his phone in his pocket. He didn’t usually do well with emotions, especially considering that his father never showed him any affection growing up and his mom was nonexistent in his life.

But Ricky was the first person to actually give a shit about him, and the fact that Todd wanted to use him just to get to this “spider-person” made him feel uneasy.

“Harry?”

He looked up and saw Ricky at the door. “You coming? We have to leave now if we want to get to school on time.”

Harry gave him a tight smile.

“Yeah, lets go.”

The teen doesn’t think he ever felt as guilty as he did when Ricky smiled at him with nothing but trust and kindness shining in his eyes. 

\---

Gina could barely stand on her own. She was putting all of her weight on EJ as they stood at the front entrance of the school, but the senior didn’t say anything about it. Carlos was constantly checking his phone as everyone was talking around them. She ended up staying out on patrol until four in the morning but as soon as she got home, the teen remembered she had an algebra packet and a history project to finish. By the time Gina was done working, it was already time for her to get ready to go to school.

So she was running on zero hours of sleep.

It also didn’t help that she barely got any sleep the past couple of nights and the only “food” she’s been having was iced coffee. But despite being tired, she couldn’t miss meeting Harry for the first time, especially considering how much Ricky has been gushing about him recently. As soon as everyone found out Harry Osborn was going to be coming to East High, people gathered at the front of the school to see him for themselves. The teachers didn’t even try and stop them, some of them even coming outside to wait as well. 

“I can’t believe that pretentious asshole is coming to our school,” EJ muttered.

“A _hot_ pretentious asshole,” Big Red teased, walking towards them.

He smiled innocently when EJ glared at him, Gina snorting at the exchange. Carlos smiled as his phone buzzed with a notification. “They’re almost here! Ricky just texted me!”

The following events were absolute chaos.

As soon as they parked and Harry stepped out of Ricky’s car, a swarm of students ran up to him screaming his name. A group of paparazzi also appeared out of nowhere, their cameras flashing as they shouted out a bunch of questions. Ricky got out of the car and froze as the paparazzi spotted him.

“Oh _shit_.”

They immediately swarmed him, yelling out questions as Ricky pressed himself against his car to try and get away from them. Harry was quick to shield the other boy from the cameras, wrapping his arms around him as he yelled at the paparazzi to stay away. Ricky pulled his hood over his head and buried his face into Harry’s chest, trying to make himself as small as possible. EJ and Gina ran towards the crowd, trying to move their way through to get to Ricky. Gina, despite being exhausted, was still able her strength to her advantage as she pushed through the crowd. 

EJ was yelling at the paparazzi when Gina finally reached the other teens. Before she could say anything, they heard a loud whistle. The teens turned around, sighing in relief when they saw Miss Jenn. She marched over to the group of paparazzi with an irritated expression on her face. 

“I hope you’re all aware that you’re trespassing on school grounds,” Miss Jenn said harshly. “Unless you want me to call the police, I suggest you all leave, _now_.”

As the paparazzi tried to protest, Gina, EJ, Ricky, and Harry made their way towards the school and the rest of the theatre kids followed them as they walked into the the auditorium. When other students tried to follow them in to see Harry, Carlos stopped them at the door and glared.

“Look, I get it, he’s Harry Osborn! But in case you forgot, he’s a person and not some robot,” he snapped. “He just got swarmed by half of you and the paparazzi, so I suggest leaving him alone and going about your day.”

Before they could protest Carlos slammed the door in their faces, smiling innocently when the theatre kids looked at him in shock. Seb smiled at him for standing up for Harry, Carlos blushing at the attention as he sat next to the blonde.

“Well that was terrible,” Ashlyn said, breaking the silence.

Harry had his arm around Ricky who was still trying to catch his breath. Gina crouched in front of him, taking her hands in his.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Ricky replied with a small smile. “That was just a lot.”

“I should’ve known the paparazzi would show up,” Harry said angrily. “They have no human decency.”

“It’s not your fault,” Ricky argued. “Besides, you helped me get out of there, so, thank you.”

They both blushed in embarrassment, looking away from each other. Carlos hid his laugh behind his hand while EJ cleared his throat loudly. 

“Is the paparazzi following you around going to be a common occurrence? Because I’d rather not watch my friend go through that again,” the senior said bluntly. 

"Dude, calm down," Big Red warned which EJ ignored as he kept his gaze on the other teen. 

He tried not to let the sight of Harry's arm around Ricky bother him.

“That makes two of us,” Harry replied, standing up. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Good.”

“Great.”

“Fucking fantastic.”

Everyone watched as the two teens stared each other down, Ricky looking at EJ with a confused expression. Why was he acting like this? He hasn’t even known Harry for five _minutes_ and he could barely tolerate him.

“EJ, it’s okay,” Ricky assured. “I’m fine. I promise.”

EJ’s expression softened and he gave the other boy a small smile, turning back around to glare at Harry one last time before going over to sit next to him. Harry rolled his eyes in response as he just moved to introduce himself to the other theatre kids.

Nini and Carlos walked over to Ricky as well, Carlos sitting on the other side of him while Nini just stood in front of him awkwardly.

“So, what’s it like living the wattpad life?” Carlos teased, trying to lighten the mood.

Ricky rolled his eyes before shoving him.

“I’m really sorry you had to go through that Ricky,” Nini said. “That was probably a lot.”

He shrugged in response. “It was, but I think Miss Jenn scared the paparazzi off so we won’t have to deal with that again.” Nini laughed slightly, giving him an awkward smile which he returned. The bell finally rang and everyone moved to grab their stuff. Gina stood up, wobbling slightly as her vision blurred.

“Gina?”

That was the last thing she heard before she fell to the ground. 

\---

When Gina woke up, she was in the nurses’ office with an ice pack resting on her head. She groaned as she sat up which caught the nurse’s attention. She picked up a granola bar and a water bottle which she gave to the teen who grabbed them eagerly. The nurse gave her a stern look as she shoved the granola bar in her mouth. “Sweetheart, when was the last time you ate? Or had a proper night of rest?”

Gina froze, giving the nurse a sheepish smile.

“I had iced coffee this morning,” she replied, the nurse giving her a look when she avoided the second question. 

“Honey, it’s fifth period. You slept through half of the school day,” the nurse informed, Gina’s eyes going wide in shock. “Look, I know school can be stressful and I don’t know if there are also things at home that are going on, but you need to take care of yourself. That means getting at least seven hours of sleep a night and eating _actual_ food.”

The teen looked away as the nurse gave her a look of sympathy. “Your friends and your girlfriend wanted to wait here until you woke up, but I had to make them leave to go to class.”

Gina’s head shot up at the nurse’s words, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

“ _Girlfriend_?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, she was the most worried out of all of your friends. She’s the one who caught you when you fell and helped carry you here,” the nurse replied. “I almost had to call security to make her leave to go to class.”

The teen’s face turned extremely red as the nurse just smiled and went back to her desk. She definitely knew the nurse wasn’t talking about Kourtney or Ashlyn, which meant that Nini was the one who caught her. Gina groaned as she ran her hands through her hair. Maybe she had the wrong idea about Nini. If the other girl really did hate her, she wouldn’t have fought to stay with her or even try to help her get to the nurses’ office in the first place. Gina felt her face heat up at the thought of being unconscious in the other girl’s arms.

Why was her heart racing so fast?

The teen was broken out of her thoughts when the nurse walked back over with a slip of paper in her hands.

“Here’s a pass to give to your fifth-period teacher,” she said. “There’s still twenty minutes left of class time so it’s not too late for you to get the work you missed.”

Gina gave her a small smile before taking the pass. As she stood up the leave, the nurse stopped her.

“I tried calling your mom to tell her what happened but she didn’t pick up,” the nurse stated. “Just promise me I won’t have to see you in this office passed out again.”

The teen just nodded in response before leaving and walked towards her locker to get her books. Gina wasn’t even surprised that her mom didn’t pick up the phone. It’s like she disappeared off the face of the earth. She hasn’t sent Gina any texts and every time the teen tries to call her, it goes straight to voicemail. Gina huffed in frustration as she opened her locker, grabbing her history textbook. Everything between her and her mom was fine until the day of the Oscorp trip. After that, her mom was barely home and started distancing herself, drowning in her workload.

Just like her dad.

It’s ironic how that day fucked up her life in more ways in one. 

The teen knew that she had to take better care of herself, but her obligation towards Spider-Woman overclouded her judgment when it came to taking care of herself. She had to work to find a balance to make sure that this didn’t happen again. Gina really wished she could talk to someone about this, but no one would fully understand what she’s going through right now.

And that hurts more than anything.

As she was about to close her locker, she froze when she felt the tingling sensation at the back of her head. It felt more prevalent this time, the teen slightly wincing from how intense it was. She already knew who it was without having to look.

Harry walked up to her, leaning against the lockers as he smiled. “Gina, right? Ricky has told me a lot about you.”

“Ditto,” Gina replied. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

“I left, got bored,” he said casually. “I already knew everything the teacher was talking about.”

“Then why the hell did you decide to come back to school?” Gina snapped, narrowing her eyes.

Harry smirked at her outburst, crossing his arms. “I was tired of spending all my time at Oscorp, I wanted to try and act like a normal teenager, so why not come back to school?”

Gina just glared at him, shoving her books in her backpack.

“Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for your help when the paparazzi came,” he mentioned. “It’s pretty impressive how easily you were able to make it through the crowd.”

_Shit._

Gina didn’t look his way, trying not to let her panic show on her face. “I guess I’m not as strong as I look, huh?” 

“Definitely not,” Harry replied. “But don’t just a book by its cover I guess.”

“You should probably go back to class,” Gina said, throwing her bag over her shoulders. “If you _really_ want to be a normal teenager, you might want to try putting in more effort.”

The older teen narrowed his eyes and Gina tried not to react when the tingling sensation at the back of her head grew even more intense. “Maybe you’re right. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Ricky now would I?’

Gina clenched her fists when Harry mentioned Ricky’s name, her eyes filled with rage. He definitely knew what he was doing and it was taking everything within her not to punch the other teen across the face.

EJ was right, he _is_ a pretentious asshole. 

“Are we done here?” she snapped. 

The older teen smiled, leaning towards her.

“Yeah, we’re done,” he replied smugly. “See you around Porter.”

As soon as he walked away, Gina slammed her locker shut with more force than necessary, the impact echoing across the hallway. She knew Harry had ulterior motives for being here. Getting close to Ricky was apart of that and the thought made her even more angry that her friend was being dragged into this. Harry knew something was off, and if she wasn’t careful, it wouldn’t take long before he connected the dots. She was playing a dangerous game with Harry being around more often, especially if he and Ricky continued to grow closer to each other.

But she refused to let his presence stop her. She was Spider-Woman, and she wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from her.

\---

Nini truly was her own worst enemy. 

When Gina fell, Nini didn’t even hesitate before running to catch her before she hit the ground. EJ helped her carry Gina with Carlos and Ricky followed close behind them, Nini yelling at people to move out of the way.

Then the nurse told them they had to leave.

Nini doesn’t think she’s ever been angrier than she has at that moment. EJ and Ricky had to physically drag her out of the nurses’ office when she said she would have to call security if they didn’t leave. When the teen realized her brash behavior, she was shocked at herself and avoided everyone else throughout the day.

After her conversation with Kourtney at the coffee shop the other day, Nini knew one thing for sure. She was _definitely_ over Ricky, but she did miss being his friend.

Before they started dating, they were best friends first. He was important to her and she missed hanging out with him. She’s been meaning to talk to him so she could properly apologize, but she hasn’t been able to get him alone. She jumped when the bell rang for lunch, not realizing she zoned out for the majority of the class. 

Nini sighed before grabbing her stuff and walking out of the classroom to find Kourtney. She immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw Gina walking towards her. Before Nini could think rationally, she ran towards the other girl before pulling her into a hug. The curly-haired teen froze in surprise at the unexpected contact but Nini just hugged her tighter.

“Don’t you _ever_ scare me like that again,” Nini muttered harshly, her face turning red.

Gina hesitantly hugged her back, patting the shorter teen’s back awkwardly.

“Guys?”

The two girls quickly separated, Ricky, Carlos, and Kourtney giving them suspicious looks when they turned around. 

“Well, I have to-”

“Yeah me too-”

“Thanks again for all your help-”

“No problem- wait what?” Nini asked.

Gina’s face darkened as she avoided eye contact with the other girl. “The nurse, um, told me everything that you did to help me, so, thank you!”

Before Nini could say anything Gina practically ran away from the teen, dragging Carlos along with her. Kourtney gave her a look before walking towards the cafeteria, leaving Nini and Ricky alone in the hallway. The teens stood in awkward silence for a while as Nini’s blush continuously turned even darker.

She can’t _believe_ the nurse told Gina what she did.

Nini probably should’ve seen this coming, but she currently wanted to launch herself off a cliff to avoid embarrassing herself even further. Ricky cleared his throat, catching her attention.

“I wanted to apologize,” he said.

“ _You_ want to apologize?” Nini asked in disbelief. “You didn’t do anything wrong! I was the one who acted petty and ignored both you and Gina.”

“Well I was the one who auditioned for the musical and invaded your personal space.”

Nini frowned as Ricky looked down at the ground, reaching out and grabbing his hands.

“Ricky, you were just trying to show me you still care,” she said softly. “I know you care, just not in the same way you wanted to.”

“I still should’ve given you space,” he argued.

“Well I should’ve talked to you instead of ignoring you,” she added. “We both messed up Ricky, this isn’t just on you.”

He looked up at her as tears started to form in his eyes. “I really missed you Nini.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. “I missed you too Ricky.”

The taller teen rested his head on top of hers, sighing in relief. They stayed like that for a while until Nini broke the silence.

“So, you and Harry huh?” she teased.

Ricky blushed, pulling away from her as he pouted. “We’re just friends.”

She gave him a disbelieving look and he ignored it, starting to walk towards the cafeteria. Ricky gave her a calculating look and hesitated before speaking.

“So, you and Gina?” he asked quietly. 

Nini froze and tried not to let the panic show on her face. “I don’t know-”

“I saw the way you looked at her and EJ the other day,” he said, cutting her off. “And the way you acted today when she passed out?”

She bit her lip, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. 

“I’m not completely sure why I acted the way I did,” she finally replied. “I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Ricky gave her an understanding look and didn’t ask any more questions which she was grateful for. They finally went into the cafeteria and sat down with the rest of their friends, Gina giving Nini a small smile which the teen returned with a small blush on her face. Nini came to another realization at that moment.

Gina had a really pretty smile.


	7. the green goblin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If you really cared about us, you should’ve left,” Nini whispered. “The classic Porter disappearing act. You’ve done it a million times before, what’s so different now?”
> 
> tw// blood & death

Todd wasn’t a patient person.

He was well known for his fiery temper and stubbornness which is why so many people were intimidated by him. Norman was the only person who could put him in his place.

Well, not anymore.

Todd stood over the other man who was bedridden, the machine next to him giving him air to breathe since he was too weak to do it himself. After Norman got sick, Todd asked the doctors to move him to the private bedroom at the top of Oscorp so he wouldn’t be bothered by the press at the hospital while he recovered. 

But he and Norman both knew the real reason all of this was happening. 

He opened his eyes, looking at Todd with a tired expression. “Are you finally going to kill me?”

“ _No_ ,” Todd hissed. “Not until I finish my project and prove to you that I’m right.”

“You mean the project that already failed?” Norman shot back. 

Todd clenched his fists in anger as the other man just watched in slight amusement. When he proposed his idea to try and fuse human DNA with other organisms, Norman immediately shot him down. As cruel as he was, Norman would rather not try to do something that could potentially kill someone. Todd lost it and threatened to leave Oscorp, but Norman wasn’t phased and told him the company would be better off without him. 

That led him to where he is now. 

Lynne Bowen was a new assistant that Norman hired and she mostly just got him his coffee every morning. Todd got to her and she helped him created a virus that they put into Norman’s coffee that morning. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but Todd refused to let the man die until he proved him wrong. He made Lynne the head of the genetics department and took the company away from both Norman and his son and went on to do his research despite Norman’s warning. All he could do was sit back and watch as he was stuck in bed connected to a machine that was keeping him alive.

“It didn’t fail,” Todd spat harshly. “That spider-freak is going around, right? She has all the properties of that spider that bit her, it _worked_.”

“It was a fluke,” Norman snapped as he narrowed his eyes. “That person could have potentially died because of the bite and then what? This entire experiment is dangerous and you’re really to risk killing innocent people? Oscorp already has enough blood on its hands.”

The two men stared each other down as their anger only grew. Despite being sick in bed, Norman still held his intimidating nature which put Todd on edge. 

“You’ve failed before you even began,” Norman taunted. “The DNA may have fused successfully, but you don’t have it. Someone else does and they’re doing way more than you ever could do with the results.”

Todd’s eyes were filled were rage and he walked over to the other man, grabbing his breathing tube before twisting it. Norman gasped as his air was cut off and tried to push Todd away but the man didn’t budge.

“Spider-Woman is who she is because of _me_ ,” the man growled as he grabbed the breathing tube tighter. “This just means that we were on the right track to what we wanted to achieve. The government would love to have enhanced individuals in their ranks. The U.S. would be unstoppable and Oscorp would make more money than it ever has when you were in charge.”

Todd laughed as Norman started gasping for air. “And don’t worry, I won’t be using random people for the next trial.”

“Todd?”

He turned around to see Lynne standing at the doorway with a couple of scientists. She wasn’t even phased at the scene in front of her while the scientists behind her were silently freaking out.

“We were able to take properties from multiple test subjects and infuse it into a gas,” Lynne explained as she walked towards them. “The chemical solution within the gas will do the same thing the spider did. The only difference is instead of a spider bite someone would have to breathe in the gas, but the results will be just as successful. Superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, and stamina, just like Spider-Woman.”

Todd smirked, releasing the breathing tube to allow Norman to catch his breath.

“Get everything ready,” he commanded as he faced the scientists in the doorway.

They scrambled away immediately and Todd looked back at Norman who had a horrified look on his face.

“Tell Harry he won’t be going to school today.”

\---

_Gina was back in Oscorp and she walked around, noticing that the building was completely abandoned. She walked into the genetics lab, her eyes going wide when she saw that all the test subjects were dead._

_“You shouldn’t have come here.”_

_She whipped around, narrowing her eyes when she saw Todd standing there with a smirk on his face._

_“You did this to me,” she accused. “I didn’t ask for any of this!”_

_“You took my life's work!” he yelled._

_He walked closer to her, Gina noticing that his eyes were a dark shade of red._

_“You took the most important thing in my life away, and now I’m going to do the same to you,” he said harshly._

**_“GINA!”_ **

_A sinister expression took over Todd’s face as Gina immediately ran towards the yelling, recognizing Ricky’s voice. She froze in her tracks when she saw Carlos and E.J. on the ground laying in their own blood, Harry standing above them holding a bloody knife. Ricky and Nini were right beside them, their eyes wide open facing her. The teen fell to her knees and threw up at the sight as tears streamed down her face._

_“You did this to them,” Harry sneered. “You should’ve just stayed away, but you just had to be the hero didn’t you?”_

_Gina was sobbing as Todd walked over and laughed at her pain. She felt a hand grab her arm and she looked up, her eyes going wide in fear when she saw it was Nini._

_“You killed me,” she said as blood poured from her mouth, “You killed_ **_all_ ** _of us.”_

_Gina gasped as the knife was suddenly in her hands and she dropped it, crawling away. Her friends slowly stood up and followed her as Harry and Todd continued laughing._

_“You’re a monster.”_

_“Freak.”_

_“Coward.”_

_“_ **_Liar._ ** _”_

_She sobbed as Nini reached her, crouching down to her level with a broken expression on her face._

_“If you really cared about us, you should’ve left,” Nini whispered. “The classic Porter disappearing act. You’ve done it a million times before, what’s so different now?”_

Gina shot up in her bed gasping, looking around to make sure she was actually in her room. She tried to catch her breath, tears streaming down her face as she trembled. Ever since her conversation with Harry, the teen has been getting nightmares and they only seem to get worse. Gina threw off her blanket and sat up in bed as she tried to pull herself together. She’s been going out as Spider-Woman for the past couple of weeks and at this point, she’s been a very popular topic on the news. Gina has stopped muggers, saved cats from trees, and she even stopped to help an elderly woman carry her groceries home. Everyone in town knows who she is and respects her, but people outside of Salt Lake City have a very negative view of her.

She has Oscorp and the Daily Bugle to thank for that.

The Daily Bugle was an online newspaper company that had recently been founded a couple of months ago, but they weren’t known for being reliable. But apparently talking shit about a “spider-person” made them credible overnight. Oscorp only added to that narrative, telling the news that there was no telling what Spider-Woman’s intentions really were and that people should be on the lookout. Gina knew Todd was most likely the person behind the statement and she wouldn’t be surprised if Harry helped him. But it didn’t bother her. If anything, it helped her to keep Harry away for the time being.

She was hiding in plain sight.

That still didn’t stop the nightmares from happening. It was a different scenario every time, but the only constant in her dreams was that Gina was always the one who ended up killing her friends. She desperately wanted to talk to someone, but the image of her friends lying dead on the floor because of her prevented the teen from speaking up. Gina ran her hands through her hair as she looked towards her clock, groaning when she saw it was only twelve in the morning. As she was about to attempt to go back to sleep, her phone buzzed and she checked it, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion when she saw she was added to a new group chat. 

**fuck h*rry osb*rn lives**

**big red: omfg-**

**ashlyn: u actually did it,,,**

**ej: welcome friends :)**

Gina rolled her eyes as she began typing out her response. She knew EJ was going to do something like this eventually. His hatred for Harry only grew every day which in turn also caused him to distance himself from Ricky. She knew exactly what was happening, but she wanted to wait until the senior figured out what was going on himself. 

**gina: alright, im not surprised ej created this chat**

**gina: but ash? red?**

**ashlyn: wellllllllll,,,,**

**ej: he’s part of their conspiracy theory**

**big red: SHUT UP**

**big red: but yes he is**

**ashlyn: something is off about him**

**big red: I just don’t trust anyone affiliated with oscorp at all, but harry being the son of the ceo??? that makes him even more sketchy**

**gina: I mean he doesn’t have the best reputation**

**ej: I still dont see what ricky sees in him. he’s a complete tool**

**ashlyn: …**

**big red: …**

**gina: …**

**ej: what????**

**ashlyn: N E WAYS**

**ashlyn: harry is on his phone 24/7 and he always looks angry when he is**

**gina: I mean he’s a generally grumpy person**

**big red: true, but he literally looks like he wants to punch someone across the face**

**big red: ricky tried asking him about it but he just changed the subject completely**

**ej: if hes cheating on him or summ I stg-**

**gina: they’re not even dating dude**

**ej: they might as well be**

**ej: HARRY ALWAYS HAS HIS ARMS AROUND HIM**

**ej: and hes always flirting jfc he never shuts up**

**gina: u sound like an overprotective mother**

**big red: can we like,,, please focus,,,,**

**ashlyn: its also kinda weird how hes always around ricky**

**ashlyn: like I get ricky was the first friend he made her but like, he’s harry osborn. hes a social butterfly! idk,, summ aint adding up**

**ej: I dont trust anyone who wears that much cologne**

**big red: dude-**

**ashlyn: how do u even- nvm I dont wanna know**

Gina huffed in frustration as she read through the texts. She knew exactly what Harry was up to, but telling them the truth would only put them in danger. The teen was really tired of lying, but what choice did she have?

**gina: idk I feel like if something was going on ricky would tell us**

**gina: and harry hasnt been around a lot of kids his age so ig he just feels more comfortable with ricky since hes known him the longest out of all of us**

**big red: yeah u do have a good point,,,**

**ej: still hate him :)**

**ashlyn: tell us something we dont know**

Gina turned off her phone after that, laying on her back as she stared up at the ceiling. When she closed her eyes, all she could see were the dead bodies of her friends on the ground. The teen immediately opened her eyes and looked to check the time again. It was only 12:15 in the morning. Looks like she wasn’t getting any sleep, _again_. She decided to occupy her time watching Netflix until she had to get up to go to school. Before she left the house, Gina made sure to eat a good breakfast. After passing out at school, the teen realized that because of the spider bite, her metabolism was even faster than it was before which meant that she had to eat twice as much.

Gina always ate a big breakfast at home to compensate for her metabolism since it would be suspicious if she packed three sandwiches for lunch. Sometimes even E.J. would bring her something extra to eat and she teased him for acting like a soccer mom, but she was grateful that he cared. Gina has also gotten into the habit of bringing her suit to school with her so she could go on patrol right after musical rehearsals.

As crazy as her life is now, she was surprisingly able to fall into a routine. 

When Gina arrived at school, she walked towards the usual meeting spot she had with Ricky and Carlos before school started. Unfortunately, Harry has also joined them. Seb, Nini, and E.J. have occasionally stopped by which was completely okay, but Gina couldn’t stand him. He was practically attached to Ricky’s hip and he damn well knew that it was bothering her. That’s why she was surprised when she only saw Ricky and Carlos standing near her locker. 

“Where’s Harry?” she questioned. “Did he finally get bored of showing up to class?”

“I don’t know,” Ricky replied. “He hasn’t answered any of my texts and he hung up abruptly when we were talking last night-”

“Wait, you _called_ him?” Carlos cut in.

Ricky blushed in embarrassment and crossed his arms. “He had a nightmare and wanted someone to talk to.”

“That’s the most Y/N thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Gina deadpanned. 

Carlos laughed as Ricky’s blush darkened. The curly-haired teen tried her best not to show her irritation as Carlos continued to tease Ricky. Going as far as to try and manipulate Ricky’s emotions was a low blow, but Gina wouldn’t past Harry to do it. He was known for being a flirt and he wasn’t afraid to hide it.

But if he even _breathed_ the wrong way around Ricky, Gina wouldn't hesitate to send him flying into the sun.

“I promise you guys we’re just friends,” Ricky assured. 

“Does Harry know that?” Carlos asked, raising his eyebrows suspiciously. “He flirts with you all the time and you two have been inseparable ever since he transferred here.”

Ricky frowned at that as the bell for first period rang and everyone started walking to get to class.

“I think he does,” Ricky finally replied as they walked towards Mr. Mazzara’s class for robotics. “I’m pretty sure I’ve made it clear everything is platonic.”

“Well, what have you guys been doing together?” Gina questioned.

“We mostly just hang out and talk, just like any other friends would do,” Ricky replied. “We went to see a movie the other day. But I didn’t pay attention that much since Harry spent the entire time bashing the movie and trying to make me laugh.” They stopped right in front of Mr. Mazzara’s classroom and Carlos and Gina gave the taller teen looks of disbelief.

“What?” 

“Did he hug you?” Carlos asked.

“Yeah but he always does,” Ricky replied. “Plus it was cold in the movie theater.”

“Did he hold your hand? Pay for the snacks? Compliment you?” Gina questioned.

He went to respond but his eyes went wide in realization as his friends rolled their eyes. 

“I’m an actual dumbass,” he muttered.

“How did you go on a date and not even realize it was a date?!” Carlos asked in disbelief. 

They all flinched when they heard a loud bang come from Mr. Mazzara’s classroom. They looked inside and saw that EJ had slammed his textbook on his desk, muttering an apology before he sat down. 

“Well someone’s in a mood,” Kourtney noted as she approached them. “What’s up with him?”

Gina and Carlos gave Ricky a look as he huffed in frustration, running his hands down his face.

“He’s probably just tired of dealing with oblivious boys,” Carlos replied, causing Ricky to wack him upside the head.

Kourtney snorted as they walked into class, Gina rolling her eyes as her friends continued to bicker. She was silently grateful that Ricky didn’t have any feelings for Harry but even if he did, she knew she would’ve still supported him despite everything. The teen felt slightly guilty for hoping this would cause them to drift apart, but the farther away Harry was, the safer Ricky and the rest of her friends would be.

_You killed me. You killed_ **_all_ ** _of us._

Gina refused to let her nightmare become a reality, no matter what it took.

\---

EJ wasn’t the type of person to be jealous. He didn’t even think he was capable of feeling that way.

Until he met Ricky.

Things between him and Nini were great until musical auditions came around and Ricky decided to audition to try and win her back. The teen never thought he would have to worry about losing Nini, but when Ricky sang that song during his audition he knew he was in trouble. Then E.J. was a complete idiot and snooped through Nini’s phone as his insecurities got the best of him. Thankfully the trio made up and they were all able to move on. As musical rehearsals went on, E.J. and Ricky started hanging out more and the senior considered him to be one of his closest friends. 

Then Harry fucking Osborn came to East High.

It takes a lot for EJ to hate someone, but he all Harry had to do was _breathe_ and the senior would get annoyed. He hated how quickly Ricky grew close with the other boy and they were always together. Harry even came to a couple of rehearsals to support him. EJ tried telling himself he was probably just jealous since he and Ricky have recently grown closer and they haven’t been hanging out as often, but he knew that was far from the truth.

It was something deeper.

The senior felt Ricky’s worried gaze on him throughout the entire day but he ignored it and instead of going to the cafeteria during lunchtime, EJ decided to spend the period in the theatre room. He sat at the piano playing random songs to pass the time.

“I still can’t believe I’m related to an absolute _idiot._ ”

EJ looked up at Ashlyn who was standing at the doorway with an annoyed expression on her face. She threw her bag down next to his and sat down on the piano bench as her cousin continued to play random notes to fill the silence.

“Tell that to my 4.3 GPA,” he replied with a smirk.

Ashlyn rolled her eyes as EJ just laughed. “I’m going to assume you came here to avoid seeing Ricky?”

The senior didn’t say anything which confirmed her suspicions.

“It’s not like he would notice I was gone away,” he muttered. “Harry is all he talks about now.”

“Actually he isn’t here today,” Ashlyn said. “Ricky doesn’t even know where he is. Harry’s been dodging his texts all day.”

EJ slammed his hands on the piano and his cousin flinched at the loud noise.

“I swear to _god_ if that asshole is somewhere hanging out with another person and ignoring Ricky on purpose I’m going to kill him,” EJ hissed. “He just took him on a date for crying out loud and he’s already ignoring him??? He really is the sleazebag everyone says he is. Ricky could do so much better than him and he deserves better.”

Ashlyn cleared her throat as she thought out her next words carefully.

“Well, for one thing, Ricky didn’t even know it was a date,” she said, causing EJ’s eyes to go wide in shock. “Look, I know you care about Ricky, but I know you too well. Harry is sketchy, but the way you act when he’s around Ricky goes beyond just looking out for a friend, doesn’t it?”

EJ sighed and buried his head in his hands and his cousin pulled him into a side hug.

“I don’t understand,” he groaned, “At the beginning of this year we hated each other, and now I can’t stop thinking about him. I didn’t even feel like this when I was with Nini.”

“Love works in mysterious ways,” Ashlyn teased.

EJ blushed at his cousin’s words and she smiled innocently in response. “ _Love_? I swear to god Ash-”

“EJ?”

The teens looked up to see Ricky standing at the doorway with a hesitant look on his face. Ashlyn gave him a smile before grabbing her bag, giving EJ one last look before walking back to the cafeteria. The senior offered the other teen an awkward smile as he put his back down, taking Ashlyn’s spot on the piano bench. EJ felt his blush grow even darker realizing that Ricky could’ve heard his conversation with Ashlyn. 

“Did I do something to piss you off?” the younger teen asked. “You’ve been avoiding me for the past couple of weeks.”

“No,” EJ replied. “Definitely not. I’m just not the biggest fan of Harry and I’d rather not be around him.”

Ricky frowned and the senior kept his gaze on the piano, trying not to think about how close they were sitting to each other.

“You could’ve just told me,” Ricky said. “Harry can be a lot, but once you get to know him he’s really not that bad. But you obviously don’t have to like him. I just, I miss hanging out with you.”

EJ looked up in surprise as the younger teen blushed. He pulled Ricky into a hug, resting his chin on top of his head.

“I’m sorry for being an asshole,” he said quietly. “I missed you too, and if I have to hang around Harry’s annoying ass to see you more I’ll do it.”

Ricky laughed and hugged him back. They separated and froze when they saw how close they were. The younger teen’s blush deepened when EJ brushed one of his curls out of his eyes, staring down at him with a look he’s never seen before. They found themselves leaning towards each other as the atmosphere around them grew tense.

And then the bell rang.

They jumped apart and grabbed their stuff, both of them sporting flustered expressions.

“Well I have to go-”

“Yeah so do I-”

“I’ll see you at rehearsal?”

“Yep totally there!”

The teens practically ran out of the theatre room before going to their respective classes. EJ hit his head against the desk as soon as he sat down in his AP biology class, silently wishing for a meteor to hit the school and put him out of his misery. Ricky was in the locker room getting ready for gym and Big Red was talking to him about the musical, but the teen couldn’t focus on a word his friend was saying.

All he could think about was EJ, but he didn’t want to do anything else with the other boy until he talked to Harry. Even if he was oblivious to the other teen’s true feelings, he still felt like he was leading him on. Ricky checked his phone, frowning when he saw his texts were still left unread. He huffed in annoyance when he saw his mom texted him but didn’t bother reading her messages, turning his attention back to Big Red.

Why did his life have to be so complicated? 

\---

Nini was out shopping with her moms when it happened.

Rehearsal ended early since the set design crew needed the stage to work on the finishing touches of the sets. Her moms picked her up and they needed to run some last-minute errands so they drove to the mall. She invited Kourtney, Ashlyn, and Gina to come with them, but Gina immediately declined saying she had a lot of chores to do. Kourtney and Ashlyn blushed and avoided eye contact, both of them saying they already had plans. Nini pretended to act oblivious, but she figured they were most likely going on a date and she made a mental note to grill Kourtney about the details later. 

Everything was fine until they left the mall.

Nini’s jaw dropped at the sight of people running and screaming, her moms pulling her close when they saw cars catching on fire.

“What the hell is going on?” Carol asked.

They froze when they heard a sinister laugh come from above them. A man in a green suit was flying around on what looked like a hover board, holding small pumpkins in his hands. Nini’s eyes went wide in fear as he threw one at another car causing it to explode. 

“That’s right, run away!” he hissed. “Pathetic humans, you’re all a waste of space!”

“Okay, now that’s just rude.”

The man screamed when Spider-Woman swung towards him, kicking him hard in the chest and sending him flying back into the ground. Everyone started running as far away as they could while the vigilante kept him distracted. Nini followed her moms as they tried to find their car, looking back at Spider-Woman who was currently dodging the bombs the man was throwing at her.

The teen wasn’t paying attention and someone rammed into her as they were running, sending her flying to the ground. Nini scrambled to get up as her moms called out to her, freezing when she felt someone grab her hair. She yelled out in pain as she was yanked backward, tears forming in her eyes when she saw it was the man attacking everyone. The teen trembled when she noticed he was wearing a freakishly detailed goblin mask and he just laughed.

“Looks like you couldn’t run fast enough,” he taunted, pulling at her hair again.

Nini cried as she was forcefully pulled to her feet, the man using her as a barrier between him and Spider-Woman. Even through the mask, the teen could see the furious expression on the vigilante’s face.

“Let her go _now_ ,” she demanded. “This is between you and me.”

“You’re not really in the position to be making demands,” he shot back. 

Spider-Woman clenched her fists in anger as the man continued to laugh.

“But I can let her go if you really want me to,” he said casually, tightening his grip on Nini’s hair. “Lets just hope you’ll be fast enough to catch her.”

Before Spider-Woman could react, the man jumped right back on his hover board and started flying up, dragging Nini with him. She screamed as the ground grew further away and watched as her moms yelled out in horror. Nini felt like she couldn’t breathe as they continued to fly up into the air and the man continued to move faster as he laughed.

They eventually stopped and he grabbed her by the arm, pulling her towards him. Nini tried fighting back but he only tightened his grip, causing her to cry out in pain.

“She should’ve just stayed away,” he hissed.

The teen looked at him in confusion as he started laughing again.

What the hell was he talking about?

Before the teen could react, the man threw her off of the hover board, the only thing keeping her from falling completely was his grip on her arm. Her eyes went wide when she saw how far up they were and started to panic, trying to grab onto his arm to try and get back onto the hover board. The man laughed at her hopeless effort and leaned in close as tears started forming in her eyes again.

“Have a safe flight!”

Nini screamed as he let go of her. He tauntingly waved as she fell, the teen screaming even louder when she felt how fast she was falling. Tears fell down her face as she continued to fall and she closed her eyes tightly to avoid looking at her surroundings.

Was she really going to die like this?

She was only _sixteen_ for crying out loud. She had so much more life to live. Nini had just gotten her first lead role in the musical, she finally made up with Ricky and Gina and was growing closer to the rest of the theatre kids.

They were her _family_.

She didn’t even get to say goodbye.

What if-

She was broken out of her thoughts when she felt someone catch her. Nini opened her eyes, sobbing in relief when she saw it was Spider-Woman. The teen wrapped her arms around the vigilante’s neck tightly, burying her face in her shoulder. When they landed Nini still refused to let go and Spider-Woman didn’t say anything, letting the girl take some time to pull herself together. The teen took a shaky breath before stepping back, giving the vigilante a grateful look.

“You saved my life,” she said softly.

“I should’ve been more careful,” Spider-Woman replied. “If I tried to make him follow me somewhere else you would’ve been safe with everyone else and I could’ve caught him.”

“Stop that,” Nini demanded. “You didn’t know what he was going to do. If he didn’t take me, it would’ve been someone else. Even if he did get away you’re going to get your chance to take him down. You’re Spider-Woman, you can do anything.”

The vigilante looked taken aback and the teen blushed furiously when she realized what she said.

“NINI!”

The teen turned around and was immediately tackled by her moms who hugged her tightly as they cried in relief.

“Oh my _god_ we thought we lost you,” Dana sobbed, kissing her daughter’s forehead. 

“Oh honey, your wrist,” Carol said softly.

Nini winced when she saw the bruise from how hard the man grabbed her. It was really big and it was already turning a dark shade of purple. 

“Thank you,” Dana said as she turned to face the vigilante, “We can’t thank you enough for saving our daughter.

“It’s no problem ma'am,” Spider-Woman replied. “The police are on their way so I should probably get going.”

“Wait!”

Before Nini could rationally think, she ran up to the vigilante before kissing her cheek. The teen smiled as the hero looked at her in surprise. 

“Stay safe.”

Spider-Woman nodded before swinging away, Nini watching as she left.

For some reason, that exchange seemed so familiar. 

\---

“The news is calling him the green goblin.”

“They already have a name for him? I can’t believe there’s a super-villain in _Utah_ of all places. This is insane!”

Gina was on skype with Ricky and Carlos as they were doing homework, but with everything that went down only a couple of hours ago, it was hard to stay focused. 

“I can’t believe Nini had to go through that,” Carlos said in sympathy. “I can’t even imagine how terrified she was.”

“Thank god for Spider-Woman,” Ricky added.

Gina was trying so hard not to think about what happened, but she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t get the sound of Nini’s terrified screams out of her head.

“Can we please talk about something else?” Gina asked. “I’d rather not talk about a maniac in a mask.”

“Well,” Carlos replied with a huge smile on his face. “I’m happy to say that I have to leave you guys behind in the single pringles club.”

“Carlos oh my god!” Gina exclaimed. “I’m so happy for you!”

“You better treat Seb right,” Ricky scolded, narrowing his eyes playfully.

“I refuse to break his heart,” the choreographer replied. “I’d rather be the one to get heartbroken to avoid seeing him sad.”

“You’re so whipped and it hasn’t even been a full day,” Gina teased as he blushed in embarrassment. “But you and Seb aren’t the only lovebirds! After rehearsal today Ashlyn and Kourtney went off to hang out and it turns out they were on a date. They went to have a picnic in the park together”

“That’s literally the cutest shit ever,” Carlos replied. “The gays really won today huh?”

The curly-haired teen giggled as Ricky bit his lip nervously, avoiding making direct eye contact with his friends. 

“Well, if we’re talking about relationships,” he said quietly, “EJ and I had a moment during lunch today, and, wealmostkissed.”

“YOU ALMOST _WHAT_?”

Ricky blushed furiously as his friends bombarded him with questions.

“The bell rang before anything happened,” the teen sighed. “But if the bell didn’t ring, we definitely would’ve been late to class.”

“Oh my god this is literally straight out of a wattpad fanfiction,” Carlos gasped. “The bad boy _and_ the jock are in love with you, _and_ the jock is jealous of the bad boy??? Ricky, you might as well change your legal name to Y/N at this point.”

“I hate you so much,” Ricky deadpanned as Carlos just laughed and continued to tease him. 

“Speaking of the bad boy, did Harry texted you back yet?” the curly-haired teen questioned.

“No, but he did call me,” Ricky replied. “I wanted to talk about where we stand but he didn’t seem like he was in the mood to have a serious conversation.”

“What do you mean?” Carlos asked suspiciously.

“He was really angry about something Todd did, but he could barely string a sentence together,” Ricky replied as he huffed in frustration. “I tried to calm him down but he just kept yelling.”

Gina furrowed her eyebrows as Carlos grilled Ricky for more details about Harry’s strange behavior. She knew something big must’ve gone down at Oscorp, but what? There’s the possibility that he figured Gina out, but if that were true he would flaunt it in her face while Oscorp drags her away, so it couldn’t be that. The teen laid back against her pillows as she recounted her fight with the green goblin. When they were fighting, the tingling sensation - which she was considering call her spider-sense, as stupid as she thinks it sounds it fits- felt the same as when Harry confronted her in the hallway. Gina knew the sensation intensified depending on the danger of the situation, but why would fighting the green goblin feel the same as talking to Harry?

The teen’s eyes went wide in realization when it clicked.

_Holy shit._

“Hey guys I think I'm going to go, it’s getting late and I’m really tired,” Gina lied.

“Alright grandma,” Ricky teased. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

She quickly shut her laptop and stood up, pacing around her room frantically. Of _course_ Harry was the green goblin. During their fight, he could’ve easily picked up any random person close to him. There were plenty of civilians within his reach. 

But he ran all the way to Nini.

She was familiar and Harry knew Spider-Woman was connected to her. He ignored Ricky’s messages all day and now he was angry out of nowhere because of Todd? The teen had a feeling Oscorp tried to replicate what they did with the spider that bit her, but she had no solid evidence to go off of. This was all just speculation. She groaned and sat back down on her bed.

Gina wanted to go over to Nini’s and check on her, but that would be too suspicious and it was already really late. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment when she remembered the kiss. Gina knew it was meant for Spider-Woman, but she couldn’t help but think about receiving a kiss from the other teen that was meant for her and not her superhero persona. She groaned and ran her hands through her hair, pulling at it in frustration. 

Things were _way_ easier when Nini was ignoring her.

The teen took out her phone and decided to text her instead to make sure the other girl was okay. But from personal experience, Gina knew she was far from it.

**gina: im glad that ur okay**

**gina: ik today was a lot and u probably wanna be alone rn, but if u ever need talk im here for u**

**gina: always & forever **

The teen glared at her phone before burying her face into her pillow and screaming into it. That was probably one of the cheesiest texts she’s sent in her entire life. She looked up as her phone buzzed, seeing that the other girl texted her back. 

**nini: the taylor to my gabriella :)**

**nini: thanks gi, that means a lot**

**nini: dont know what id do without u <3**

Gina smiled as she felt her face heat up. She stared at the heart Nini sent for a long time before sending her response.

**gina: <3**


	8. the sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not only did Harry have Ricky under his thumb, but now he had Nini. Gina felt dread settle in her stomach at the thought of him seriously hurting either one of them. She had to figure out a way to stop him and Oscorp fast.
> 
> Her friends were in this mess because of her, and Gina was determined to get them out of it.
> 
> tw// slight abuse

Nini couldn’t sleep.

She huffed in frustration as she sat up in her bed and grabbed her phone. The teen has been trying to fall asleep for the past two hours but every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the mask of the green goblin. Nini opened up her contacts and hovered over Gina’s number as she bit her lip nervously.

She knew Gina would be willing to listen to her rant, but it was already so late at night and she felt that the other girl wouldn’t completely understand. Nini scrolled through her other contacts and was about to just try and fall asleep again when she landed on Rico’s number. She had recently gotten closer to the other teen and out of everyone, he would be the one to understand what she’s going through. Still, Nini felt guilty about reaching out so late, but if she didn’t talk to someone soon she felt like she was going to lose her mind. She pushed down her nervousness before pressing the call button.

She was shocked when Rico picked up so quickly.

“Nini?” he questioned in surprise. “What are you doing up so late?”

“Hey Rico,” she replied. “I could ask you the same thing. I didn’t even know if you would be awake or not.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said with a frustrated sigh. “You?”

“Me neither,” she replied quietly. 

Even if neither of them said it, both of them already knew the reasoning for why they were still awake. 

“How do you deal with them, the nightmares?” Nini asked, breaking the silence. “Do they ever stop?”

“I honestly don’t think they will,” Rico replied. “No matter how much time passes, that day is still going to haunt me for the rest of my life whether I like it or not. But I have a lot of people looking out for me. You, the rest of the theater kids, my parents, and Kaden. He’s helped a lot.”

Nini smiled slightly when Rico’s mood lighted as he mentioned his boyfriend. “The point is, the nightmares are never going to go away completely, that’s not how it works. You went through something traumatizing and it’s going to stay with you, but you can’t let it control your life. You just have to remember you’re not alone.”

“I know I’m not alone, but it still feels like I am,” she whispered. “It’s like I can’t stop falling and this time, no one’s there to catch me.”

“Maybe there’s something we can do together? Being surrounded by friends could help,” Rico suggested.

A bright smile appeared on Nini’s face as she formed an idea in her head. 

“Rico, you’re an actual genius.”

\---

Gina quickly flipped out of the way as her attacker tried shooting her again. The teen was on her way home from patrol when she heard someone crying out for help and found a man trying to pull a civilian into the back of his van. She was able to distract the kidnapper long enough for the civilian to escape. Gina landed a harsh kick on his chest, sending him flying back into the wall behind him. She sighed in relief and webbed him to the wall as she took out her phone to call the police.

Her phone buzzed with a notification from the theatre group chat as she was about to call. Gina looked back at the kidnapper to make sure he was secure before checking the notifications. It’s not like he was going anywhere soon, she had plenty time to call the police.

**mazzara’s whores**

**big red: okay who tf changed the gc name-**

**ej: I mean I have no complaints ;)**

**ashlyn: ….I hate to say it I dont mean to sound ridiculous but idk who this man is! he could be walking down the street and I wouldnt know a thing, sorry to this man!**

**ej: >:(**

**nini: N E WAYS!**

**nini: rico & I came up with a ~fantastic idea~**

**nini: the show is coming up in a couple of weeks and we havent had the chance to have a cast bonding meetup yet, so yall are invited to my house for a hsm sleepover!**

**carlos: HELL YES**

**ashlyn: looks like im baking cookies**

**ej: looks like im eating those cookies & ur gonna have to make more!**

**ashlyn: im banning u from the kitchen.**

**ej: BETRAYAL**

**big red: we better be watching all 3 hsm movies >:(**

**nini: ofc!**

**kourtney: PERIODT**

**seb: omg yay this is gonna be so fun!**

**bianca: FUCK YEAH PARTY AT NINI’S**

**rico: this was 99.9% my idea i’m a ~genius~**

**kaden: who lied to u,,,**

**kourtney: somebody LIED to her several times and told her that she was fly, hot, and sexy, and beautiful and she’s NOTHING like she’s nothing of the sort!**

**rico: excuse me??? how rude???**

**kaden: ;)**

**kourtney: ;)**

**ricky: ill bring the weed!**

**nini: not into my christian household u wont**

**nini: my moms would beat ur ass & I will sit back and WATCH**

**ricky: edibles it is then :)**

**carlos: looks like im giving u a ride then! ill make sure to throw them in the trash before we leave**

**ricky: >:(**

Gina snorted as she read the chat and began typing her response. Even if she didn’t show it, she was actually really excited about the sleepover. The teen has never really been invited to hang out with friends since she never stayed in one place long enough to form any meaningful relationships. But now, she had things like this to look forward to with the best group of people she’s ever met. Before she could send her text, Gina felt her spider-sense go off.

She ducked as the man tried to punch her, but he was able to grab one of her legs and threw her against the wall like a rag doll. Gina cried out in pain as she hit the wall hard and fell to the ground. She looked back up at where she webbed her attacker up, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion when she saw the webs were torn up.

How the _hell_ did he get out? No one was strong enough to rip through her webs.

She quickly rolled out of the way as the man tried to kick her. Gina jumped back onto her feet before punching the man across the face. He stumbled from the force and she quickly swiped his feet from under him, sending the man tumbling to the ground. She used her webs to restrain him, making sure to use more this time. The kidnapper growled as he tried to break free, frantically moving around like a rabid animal.

Gina slowly moved closer to him, noticing his eyes were a dark shade of green. She surveyed the area around them and noticed a syringe on the ground. She picked it up and saw there was still some black liquid left in it. Gina turned back towards the man whose eyes went wide when he saw what she was holding.

“Give that back give that back give that _BACK_ ,” he yelled as his movements became more violent.

The teen narrowed her eyes before grabbing the collar of his shirt, pulling him towards her. 

“What the hell is this?” Gina demanded. “Is this what made you stronger?”

“No no no no _no_ ,” he hissed as his eyes moved around frantically. “They’re going to kill me I need the syringe I need it give it _BACK_!”

Gina huffed in frustration and let go of the man as he continued yelling nonsense. She carefully placed the syringe in her pocket before picking her fallen phone from the ground, sighing in relief when she saw it was only slightly cracked.

**gina: a sleepover with u losers? lemme take a second to think,,,**

**carlos: GINA-**

**gina: im joking lmao im totally down :)**

**nini: YAYYY! this is gonna be so much fun <3**

Gina smiled at Nini’s last text before putting her phone away and looking back at the kidnapper. He was completely silent now and she sighed in relief before calling the police. 

“The bird flies for Oscorp.”

She froze and looked back at him, the teen’s eyes going wide in shock when she saw the man’s condition. His veins were dark green and were popping out of his face and he was twitching violently as he started foaming at the mouth. 

“The bird flies for Oscorp, the bird _kills_ for Oscorp,” he whispered as he started losing his breath. “No one is safe.”

Gina felt sick when the man stopped breathing, his lifeless eyes staring up at her. She left when she heard police sirens moving towards the scene and started to think about the man’s last words as she made her way back home. 

What the hell did that even mean? “The bird flies for Oscorp”?

She finally made it back home, rolling her eyes when her mom’s car was nowhere to be seen for the fifth time this week. Gina walked into the kitchen and took out the syringe to observe the liquid. She had a feeling that Oscorp was trying to replicate what happened to her, but the teen believed the green goblin was the only person she had to worry about. But after what happening today, it looks like Oscorp was trying to mutate every criminal in the city.

But after seeing what happened to the man in the alley, whatever formula they were working with had side effects. She was starting to think Harry took the same thing since Ricky did say the teen wasn’t acting like himself.

Gina huffed in frustration and made her way upstairs so she could take off her suit and get ready for bed. Whoever this bird person was, they’re most likely responsible for giving out these syringes for Oscorp. Even if these people were criminals, Gina couldn’t stand by and let Oscorp use them as their lab rats. She had to find this bird person and put a stop to all of this. She hissed in pain when she pulled off her suit, groaning when she saw a huge bruise on her hip from where she hit the wall. The teen wrapped up her bruise praying it would heal up overnight before putting on her pajamas and laying in bed.

So not only did she have to worry about Harry and his green goblin persona, but now she also had to worry about some bird person going around delivering a deadly serum to criminals for Oscorp.

Sometimes, Gina _really_ hated that stupid spider.

\---

Ricky was getting ready for Nini’s sleepover when the doorbell rang. He knew it wasn’t Carlos since he said he was picking up Seb and Gina first and he always tended to be late, especially because he was determined to pick as he said “the perfect pair of pajamas”. His eyes went wide in surprise when he saw Harry on the other side of the door. He walked inside before Ricky could say anything and slammed the door closed behind him.

“Harry what the hell-”

“I don’t have a lot of time,” the older teen said cutting him off. “We need to talk _now_.”

Ricky looked at him in concern as he locked the door, his hands shaking. He turned around to face the younger teen with a panicked expression on his face. Ricky only grew more concerned when he saw Harry’s disheveled appearance. 

“I haven’t been myself for the past couple of days,” he stated nervously.

“Yeah, you haven’t,” Ricky agreed as he crossed his arms. “No offense, but you’ve been a complete asshole.”

“I know and I’m sorry, I really am,” Harry replied. “But I don’t exactly remember what happened.”

Ricky looked at him in disbelief as the other teen started pacing around the room. “ _What_?”

“It doesn’t make any sense, but I know I did something bad but for some reason, I can’t remember what I did,” Harry explained. “It’s like my brain was wiped or something.”

“That sounds insane,” Ricky deadpanned. 

“I know it does but it’s the truth,” the taller teen argued.

“Maybe Todd knows how to help you, he’s a doctor isn’t he-”

“Absolutely not,” Harry snapped cutting him off. “I don’t trust him.”

Ricky glared at him as the other teen continued to pace around the room,

“I can’t help you if you’re going to act like this,” he said harshly.

Harry stopped moving and looked at Ricky with a guilty expression. Before he could say anything, he felt a sharp pain in his head. The older teen clutched his head and cried out in pain as it got worse, falling to his knees. Ricky quickly bent down and wrapped his arms around Harry as he trembled. He eventually stopped but said nothing, keeping his gaze on the ground. 

“Harry?” Ricky asked hesitantly. 

The teen laughed in response, looking up at Ricky with a sinister smile on his face.

“You’re an absolute _idiot_.”

He gasped as Harry grabbed him by the neck, shoving him against the wall. Ricky clawed at his arm desperately but the older teen just tightened his grip in retaliation. 

“You should’ve just kicked him out when you had the chance,” Harry criticized. 

“Harry _please_ ,” Ricky choked out weakly, “This isn’t you.”

“You’re right, it’s not Harry,” he replied. “He did say he wasn’t feeling like himself, didn’t he?”

He let go of Ricky’s neck and he fell to the floor, breathing in deeply as he tried to pull himself together. 

“Harry Osborn might as well be dead now,” the teen said casually, “But the world doesn’t need to know that, not yet at least.” Ricky cried out in pain as the older teen grabbed his hair, forcing him to make eye contact. He froze in fear when he saw the other boy’s eyes were a dark shade of green. 

“If you don’t want me to hurt your precious little friends, you’re going to do _exactly_ as I say.”

\---

Gina smiled when she heard Carlos honk his horn from outside. She grabbed her bag and ran outside, smiling even wider when Seb waved at her enthusiastically from the passenger’s seat. 

“This is going to be so much fun!” he exclaimed as Gina entered the car. 

“I’m just ready to convince everyone that the first High School Musical movie is the best one,” Carlos said as he started the car.

“For the last time, High School Musical 2 is the best one, but you’re obviously not ready for that conversation,” Gina argued as Carlos gasped in shock.

“She’s right babe, the second one has the best music,” Seb agreed.

Gina gave Seb a high five as Carlos huffed in annoyance. “I can’t believe I’m being betrayed like this.” They continued to bicker until they finally reached Ricky’s house. Gina froze when she felt her spider-sense go off, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she looked around. There wasn’t any danger around, so what was going on?

“I’ll go get Ricky,” she said. “You guys can wait in here.”

“Alright, I’ll be here convincing Seb why the first High School Musical is the best!” Carlos replied.

“Then we’re going to be here for a while,” Seb deadpanned, causing the other teen to slap his arm playfully.

Gina gave them a small smile before getting out of the car and walked towards the front door of the Bowen house. Before she could even ring the doorbell, Ricky opened the door. The teen’s eyes went wide when she saw the bruises on his neck. Her spider-sense only amplified when she saw the horrified look on her friend's face. 

“Ricky, what the hell happened?” Gina asked in concern. “Did someone do this to you?”

Before he could respond, Harry appeared in the doorway and gave the curly-haired teen a smug look before wrapping an arm around Ricky’s waist.

“Yeah, I did,” Harry replied. “Our make-out session just got a little out of hand, my bad I guess. But who could blame me?”

Gina’s eyes narrowed when he kissed Ricky’s cheek, noticing the other boy flinching at the contact. 

“Since when were you two a thing?” she questioned.

“Since last night,” Harry shot back. “Got a problem, Porter?”

“Just looking out for my friend,” Gina replied harshly. “Last time I checked you don’t have the best reputation."

“Well I’m hurt,” Harry said in fake offense. “I’ve changed! Isn’t that right Ricky?”

They both faced the teen who’s been uncharacteristically quiet. Gina felt her blood boil when Harry shook him slightly to get his attention, pulling the younger teen even closer towards him.

“Yeah,” he replied quietly.

Harry smiled as the curly-hair teen resisted the urge to punch him in the face. She gently took Ricky’s wrist in her hand before pulling him away from Harry, stepping in front of him to act as a barrier between the two teens.

“Well we have a sleepover to go to if you don’t mind,” Gina said sarcastically. 

“Tell Nini I said hi, will you? And that I hope she’s doing okay after what happened?” he asked. “I can’t even imagine why someone would want to hurt such a sweet girl like her.”

Gina’s spider-sense was going haywire as Harry smirked at her with a green tinge in his eyes. The teen didn’t want to be right about Harry being the green goblin, but everything happening right now only confirmed her suspicions. And he just threatened Nini, which means he knew the truth about her. But why didn’t he tell Oscorp? This was all too much to think about at once, and her spider-sense only grew more intense the more she thought about it.

Gina just gave him a fake smile in response before pulling Ricky away. She waited until Harry closed the door before facing her friend.

“Ricky, what the _hell_ was that?” Gina demanded. “Last time I checked you said you only liked Harry as a friend and you were crushing on EJ! And now that asshole is staying at your house?”

“Things just changed,” Ricky replied. “Maybe I was projecting my feelings for Harry onto EJ because I thought Harry was out of my league. I really don’t know but I’m happy with Harry, okay?”

“Bullshit,” she shot back.

“Gina _please_ ,” he begged. “We can talk about this later, but can you please just let it go?”

She tried to ignore the pain in his eyes as her spider-sense continued to act up.

“Fine,” Gina finally replied. “But you and I both know those bruises aren’t from kissing.”

That was the last thing she said before she finally entered the car. Carlos and Seb just gave each other a look before they drove off, both of them pretending not to see Gina’s angered expression and the bruises on Ricky’s neck.

\---

Despite the tension, the sleepover was actually going really well. Gina can’t remember the last time she’s laughed as much as she did tonight. Ashlyn ended up bringing a lot more food than expected and everyone stuffed their faces as they complimented her cooking. EJ and Kaden ended up starting a gigantic pillow fight which quickly ended when Kourtney hit Big Red and he stumbled into a lamp, sending it flying to the ground. All of them were gathered in the living room now, sitting on the couch and watching High School Musical together. 

“I still think Sharpay deserved better,” Seb said. “Troy and Gabriella weren’t even theatre kids and they still got the leads with zero experience!”

“Are you just being biased because you play Sharpay in the musical?” Nini teased, causing everyone to laugh.

“He’s right though. Sharpay was done dirty,” Kourtney agreed. “This is exactly why High School Musical 2 is the best one! She gets her time to shine _and_ gets revenge.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that when High School Musical 3 is right there!” Big Red argued. “Fabulous wishes it was I Want It All.” 

“All of you are wrong,” Carlos interrupted. “We’re watching the best High School Musical movie right now!

Everyone started arguing which High School Musical movie was the best and Ashlyn ended up hitting Rico in the face with a pillow when he said the music in the second movie was overrated, causing another pillow fight. Ricky got up and muttered something about getting a drink before walking towards the kitchen. EJ noticed and decided to follow him, Gina and Carlos giving each other a look as he did. They decided to follow them and saw that Ricky was getting a drink from the fridge and the senior approached him. 

“Hey, are you okay?” EJ asked hesitantly. 

“I’m fine,” Ricky replied shortly, shutting the fridge with more force than necessary. 

“You don’t seem fine,” EJ argued. “You know you can talk to me right?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” the younger teen responded quickly.

“I’m not blind you know,” EJ said. “I see the bruises-”

“Just leave me alone,” he snapped, cutting EJ off. “Whatever happened in the theatre room that day didn’t mean anything, okay? Harry and I are together now, so back off.”

EJ’s concerned expression fell and he glared at the younger boy. Ricky ignored the way his heart ached after what he said, looking away from the other teen so he wouldn't see the tears forming in his eyes.

“Fine. But don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart,” the senior replied harshly. 

Gina and Carlos moved out of the way when EJ stormed out of the kitchen. They walked in and saw their friend hunched over the kitchen sink, his knuckles white from gripping the counter.

“Ricky, what’s up with you?” Carlos asked. “You’re not acting like yourself.”

“Why the hell does everyone keep asking me that?” Ricky snapped, turning around to face them. “I’m _fine_.”

“No you’re not,” Gina argued. “Are we just going to completely ignore how uncomfortable you were around Harry? You flinched when he kissed you for crying out loud! And the bruises?”

“Is he hurting you?” Carlos asked hesitantly. 

Ricky stayed silent and his friends looked at him in concern.

“Everything is fine,” he finally replied. “There’s nothing for you guys to worry about, just drop it.”

“Ricky-”

“Fuck _off_ ,” he hissed. “Just leave me the hell alone.”

Before they could say anything else, Ricky left the kitchen. Gina watched him go with a calculating look on her face while Carlos huffed in annoyance. She knew Harry had something to do with the way Ricky was acting, but really something bad must be happening if he was acting like this.

“I’ve never seen him act like this before,” Carlos said, breaking the silence.

“Maybe he’s just annoyed we’re being so overbearing,” Gina replied. “We can’t tell him who to date.”

Both of them knew that was far from the truth. 

“I guess,” the shorter teen sighed. “I just hope he talks to us when he’s ready.”

“Me too,” Gina agreed quietly.

Not only did Harry have Ricky under his thumb, but now he had Nini. Gina felt dread settle in her stomach at the thought of him seriously hurting either one of them. She had to figure out a way to stop him and Oscorp fast. Her friends were in this mess because of her, and Gina was determined to get them out of it. 

Everyone was getting ready to go to sleep when they walked back into the living room. Ricky moved to sleep near Kourtney and Ashlyn, wanting to put as much distance between him E.J., Carlos and Gina as he could. After talking with each other a little bit more, everyone was finally starting to fall asleep. As Gina went to close her eyes, she noticed Nini was still wide awake. 

“Can’t sleep?” Gina asked quietly.

“I’m afraid to,” Nini replied. “It’s been a rough couple of nights.”

The teen felt the guilt taking over from her words, knowing that she was responsible. She didn’t even want to think about what could’ve happened if she didn’t catch Nini in time. Gina hesitated before wrapping his arms around the other girl, pulling her into her chest.

“I heard holding someone helps,” she muttered quietly.

Nini placed her hands on top of Gina’s with a small blush on her face, looking back towards the other teen with a grateful smile on her face. They moved closer towards each other and closed their eyes, falling asleep peacefully.

Neither one of them had nightmares that night.

\---

The next few weeks were terrible, to say the least. The musical was coming up fast which meant longer rehearsals and despite how tired Gina was afterward, she still had to go out as Spider-Woman. Crime rates have seemed to go up ever since that bird person has been going around giving that serum to criminals, which only made them harder for her to fight. Most of them still suffered from the side effects like that first man she fought did, but others were starting to adapt which wasn’t good news for the vigilante.

Ricky only grew more distant from his friends. He was always with Harry and as much as he said he was okay, it was obvious that he wasn’t. Gina had to constantly resist the urge to hurt Harry when he purposely flaunted their relationship in their face, knowing the real intentions that he had. E.J. tried to pretend that he didn’t care, but Gina knew that he was hurting and that he missed Ricky. Carlos only grew more frustrated when he saw Ricky and Harry together, knowing that something wasn’t right. He was also a little mad at Gina for not putting as much effort into the musical as she usually does, but she couldn’t help it.

It was kinda hard for her to focus on the musical when there were a bunch of super-powered criminals going around. 

But of course, Carlos couldn’t know the truth, so she just lied and told him she had some family drama going on, which wasn’t a complete lie. Her mom still hasn’t been home and Gina was starting to worry she wasn’t coming back. She huffed in frustration and ran her hands through her hair. The teen was currently sitting in the science lab trying to figure out what the hell was in the syringe. Gina knew it was risky to do this at school, but she didn’t have the proper equipment at home so she had no other choice.

“Gina?”

She already knew it was Ashlyn standing at the door without looking up, but she pretended to be surprised when she saw the other girl.

“Hey Ash,” she greeted. “What are you doing here?”

“I have a chemistry lab I have to finish for Mr. Wilson’s class,” she replied, walking to sit next to the younger teen. “What about you?”

Gina hesitated before responding. “I found this sample sitting in the microscope and I got curious.”

Ashlyn raised her eyebrows in suspicion as the curly-haired teen blushed in embarrassment. The other teen knew Gina hated all subjects of science with every bone in her body, of course that didn’t sound believable. 

She really needed to get better at lying.

“Well it must be really interesting if it grabbed your attention,” Ashlyn teased. “Can I take a look?”

Gina nodded and moved out of the way to let the other girl look. A confused expression took over her face as she looked up.

“What is it?” Gina questioned.

“I don’t know if I’m going crazy, but it looked like the sample moved,” Ashlyn replied in disbelief.

Gina’s eyes went wide as she looked into the microscope again, seeing that the older teen was right. The black liquid was moving around the glass slowly. If the teen looked close enough, it looked like a tiny spider. 

“It’s not moving for me,” Gina lied, facing the other girl.

“It’s probably just my imagination,” Ashlyn said.

The curly-haired teen gave her a small smile as she internally panicked. When the bell rang for lunch, Gina waited until Ashlyn left before pulling out the syringe again. She felt sick to her stomach when she saw the liquid left in it was moving on its own as well. Whatever the hell Oscorp was trying to do, it was more serious than the teen previously thought. Gina observed the syringe, stopping when she saw something written on the end of it in small letters.

_Project Venom_

Well, that didn’t sound good. 


	9. the vulture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina bit her lip nervously as she thought about her response. As much as she loved the musical, all of this was too much for her to handle. The teen’s duties as Spider-Woman were far too important to ignore just for a musical.
> 
> She couldn’t continue doing this if she knew she wasn’t going to be able to put her all into it.
> 
> tw// violence & blood

Lynne rolled her eyes in annoyance as she watched Todd pace around the genetics lab muttering nonsense under his breath. Despite all the progress they’ve made with their current research, Todd was still hellbent on catching Spider-Woman. He was hoping one of the criminals who took the Venom serum would be able to do the job, but they still weren’t strong enough to take her down. Lynne knew Todd’s obsession with catching the vigilante had to do with his desire to prove Norman wrong, but she kept her thoughts to herself. 

She was only in this whole operation for the money anyway, he could kill Spider-Woman for all she cared.

“What if he doesn’t show up?” Todd asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. “This plan-”

“He’ll be here,” she assured. “You need to relax.”

“I can’t _relax_ ,” he hissed. “We tried the gas and it gave us the green goblin which is not a problem we need right now. The Venom serum still hasn’t been perfected and at this rate, we’re running out of criminals to sell them too because they know the side effects. If we get a sample of Spider-Woman’s blood, we can easily perfect it.”

Even if that was true, Lynne and her team were close to perfecting the formula. As much as she wanted to tell Todd to let this go, she knew he wouldn't listen. Before she could say anything else, Harry walked into the lab with a bored expression on his face.

“How long is this going to take? I have school you know,” the teen said.

Todd narrowed his eyes as he looked at him.

“Who am I talking to right now?”

The teen groaned and pointed towards his eyes which were tinted with dark green. “What do you think dumbass? Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of genius?”

Lynne sighed in annoyance as Todd started yelling at the teen. The green goblin was the result of the gas her team developed. It was supposed to give the subject the same abilities as Spider-Woman, but it went completely haywire. Todd decided to use Harry as the subject last minute to get back at Norman, but something in the teen’s DNA caused the gas to have a negative effect. Somehow it created the green goblin who was essentially a parasite on Harry’s mind. Lynne doesn’t even know if Harry is still alive at this point, but Todd isn’t exactly concerned.

As soon as the green goblin came out, he sent him after Spider-Woman. He had the engineering team build him a suit, seeing this as an opportunity to finally catch the vigilante.

What Todd failed to see was that the green goblin had an agenda of his own. 

After his attack on the mall, the green goblin never returned to Oscorp which sent Todd into a fit of rage. Lynne decided to develop an alternative to the gas as a backup plan, which is what led to the creation of the Venom Project. Todd decided to sell the product and use criminals as test subjects, but he refused to tell Lynne who was in charge of giving them out. 

“Where the hell have you been?” Todd demanded. “This isn’t part of the plan!”

“Yeah, this isn’t part of your plan, but it’s part of mine,” the green goblin replied smugly. “You just worry about fixing the Venom serum, I’ll worry about Spider-Woman.”

Lynne looked at him suspiciously before stepping forward. “You know who she is, don’t you?”

Todd’s eyes went wide as the green goblin smirked, his eyes turning a darker shade of green.

“If you know who she is why the fuck is she not here?!” Todd demanded.

“You’re an absolute idiot,” the teen sighed in annoyance. “It doesn’t matter how many criminals you send after her, they’re not going to be able to catch her. Hell, I’m not even strong enough to stop her. But she has weaknesses, and if used properly, she’ll come here without hesitation.”

Lynne felt a shiver go down her spine as the green goblin’s gaze focused on her. “Ironically enough, your son is part of my plan.”

Before she knew what she was doing, Lynne marched over to the teen before slapping him across the face. She felt her heart race as Todd yelled at her, but she refused to back down.

“My son stays out of this,” Lynne hissed. “We don’t need that spider-freak alright? My team-”

The green goblin grabbed her throat and lifted her into the air, cutting her off. Lynne gasped in shock and tried to pry his hand off, but the teen just tightened his grip. He turned to spit out blood from how hard Lynne slapped him, smirking when she started to gasp for air.

“No offense Mrs. Bowen, but I’ve looked at your work, and as much as you think you’re close to perfecting the Venom serum, you’re nowhere _near_ that point,” he snapped. “Whether you like it or not, Spider-Woman is the key to all of this and your son is part of my plan to get her here.”

He threw her to the ground and she desperately gasped for air as tears formed in her eyes. Lynne moved back when the green goblin crouched down to her level with a sinister smile on his face.

“If you really have a problem with all of this, then you can leave,” the teen said harshly. “But I can guarantee both your son and your ex-husband will die a brutal death if you do.”

Lynne felt tears fall down her face as the green goblin just smiled wider, slapping the side of her face harshly. Todd rolled his eyes at the exchange and walked towards the teen with an angry expression. The green goblin wasn’t phased when the older man grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him threateningly close.

“You have some nerve coming in here and acting like you own the place,” Todd growled.

“You want to sell the Venom serum to the government, don’t you? Make millions for Oscorp? Prove Norman wrong?” the teen questioned. “The only way that happens is if you listen to me.”

They stared each other down for a while, the only sound coming from Lynne as she continued to sob. Todd reluctantly let go of the green goblin and turned towards his partner.

“Get your pathetic ass off the ground and go make yourself useful,” Todd snapped, catching Lynne’s attention. “We need another shipment of Venom serum by tonight.”

The green goblin smirked as he watched her struggle to collect herself. “I’m glad we’re all on the same page. Now if you’ll excuse me, I don’t want to be late for school.”

Todd watched him leave as he took out his phone. He was going to let green goblin bring Spider-Woman to them but as soon as he did, Todd was going to kill him.

Right in front of Norman.

He dialed the first number on his contact list and waited for the person to pick up. The man could care less if it were the green goblin or not. He still had Harry’s face, and his murder would be the last thing Norman sees before Todd killed him too. He was finally going to get his revenge, and he refused to let anything get in his way.

“Hello? Yeah, it’s me. I have another shipment of the serum for you to give out. I also have a small favor to ask.”

\---

“Thank you all for coming.”

Gina, Ricky, and EJ were all sitting in Miss Jenn’s office as she gave them all a stern look. Carlos was standing behind her and he also looked mad, but also slightly worried. Gina already had a feeling why she was called down, but she couldn’t speak for the other teens.

Balancing the musical and going out as Spider-Woman has only become even more difficult. Criminals were becoming more rampant in the city because of the Venom project going around which led to the teen staying out later than she usually did. Gina was running on zero hours of sleep and because of that, she hasn’t been able to focus on rehearsals for the musical. She’s been messing up her lines a lot and has no energy for the dance numbers which is a problem since she has an entire dance solo.

In her defense, a school musical didn’t seem that important compared to protecting the city from enhanced criminals and taking down a billion-dollar company.

“All of you play important parts in the show and you’ve put in a lot of work. But the reality is that lately, your performances have not been the best,” Miss Jenn said. “Gina, your focus seems to have drifted and that has had a very negative effect on your performance. I understand that you have family troubles going on, but you can’t let that distract you. EJ and Ricky, I don’t know what happened between the two of you but your chemistry is basically nonexistent. Troy and Chad are supposed to be best friends but you can’t even look at each other anymore.”

The teens winced after hearing her comments and Carlos felt slightly guilty, but he knew it had to be said. This show meant the world to him and he wanted everyone to be at their best.

“The bottom line is that you all made a commitment when you joined the musical, and I need you to step it up. The show is coming up fast and we can’t afford to have these problems this late into rehearsals,” Miss Jenn stated.

“I’m sorry,” Ricky replied quietly. “I’ll work on it. We all will.”

EJ stayed silent but nodded in agreement and Miss Jenn gave them a grateful smile. Gina bit her lip nervously as she thought about her response. As much as she loved the musical, all of this was too much for her to handle. The teen’s duties as Spider-Woman were far too important to ignore just for a musical.

She couldn’t continue doing this if she knew she wasn’t going to be able to put her all into it.

“Miss Jenn, with all due respect, it might be best if I step down from the show,” Gina said hesitantly.

Carlos, Ricky, and EJ all looked at her with shocked expressions and she pretending not to see them.

“Sweetheart, are you sure?” Miss Jenn asked.

“There are just a lot of things going on at home that need my attention,” Gina lied.

Miss Jenn gave her a worried look but didn’t question her any further. “I’m not going to kick you out completely. If you change your mind you can always come back, no questions asked.”

The teen gave her a small smile at the offer, but she knew it wouldn’t be possible. 

Spider-Woman was too important.

Miss Jenn dismissed them and Gina tried to leave as quickly as possible to avoid talking to her friends, but Carlos grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the auditorium before she could. When they got there, Gina purposely avoided eye contact as Carlos let EJ and Ricky in before closing the door. Miss Jenn called them down during study hall and the auditorium was always empty during this time. Gina was silently praying the bell would ring so she could run to class, but there were a good thirty minutes left of study hall.

It was at times like these the teen wished she could just put on her suit and swing away from her problems.

“Alright, you know I love you, but this is insane,” Carlos said, breaking the silence. “Quitting the show? _Now_?”

“Are things really that bad at home?” EJ questioned gently.

Gina felt horrible lying to her friends about all this, but what choice did she have? She couldn’t risk putting them in danger.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I just can’t,” she replied. 

“What kind of answer is that?” Carlos snapped. 

“Carlos, calm down,” Ricky warned.

“Oh, so now you want to talk to us?” EJ scoffed. “I thought you couldn’t speak without Harry’s permission. Shocker.”

Ricky looked at him in disbelief as Carlos continued to glare at Gina.

“Why are you getting so worked up about this?” she asked in frustration. “Right now just isn’t a good time for me-”

“You’ve been saying that for weeks Gina, _weeks_!” Carlos replied harshly, cutting her off. “You keep saying there’s stuff going on at home but you haven’t said anything about it! Do you not trust us?”

“Of course I trust you guys,” Gina said immediately. 

“Then what is it?” he pressed. “What’s so bad that you can’t even talk to us about it?”

“Carlos please just drop it,” Ricky begged. “This isn’t an interrogation.”

“Once again, he speaks!” EJ exclaimed.

The shorter teen turned and glared at him fiercely. “Can you shut up and put your grudge aside for one fucking second? This isn’t about us, it’s about Gina.”

“Oh, so we’re just going to pretend like this is the first conversation we’ve had in weeks?” EJ snapped, moving closer to him. “It’s hard to believe you care about Gina or any of us when you ignore us for Harry.”

“Back off Caswell,” Gina warned, stepping in front of him.

“Can we please focus?” Carlos asked in an annoyed tone.

“On what? You being too pushy?” EJ snarled.

“Well I’m _sorry_ that I’m frustrated by the fact that my own best friend doesn’t even trust me anymore!” Carlos yelled.

“For fucks sake Carlos I do trust you!” Gina snapped as she turned to face him again.

“Then why don’t you just tell me what’s going on?!” Carlos questioned. 

“Oh my god Carlos just leave her alone!” EJ replied in annoyance. “You don’t have to know everything!”

“ _STOP_!”

The teens froze and face Ricky who was glaring at them fiercely. Tears were forming in his eyes and he was trembling as he struggled to catch his breath.

“Just _stop_!” he cried. “Yelling isn’t going to help anything!”

Gina felt her spider-sense go off slightly when Ricky’s trembling got worse. She tried to move towards him but he immediately backed away and wrapped his arms around himself. The teens stood in silence as they tried to calm themselves down.

“Look, I’m sorry for all of this, but it’s out of my control,” Gina said, breaking the silence. “You guys will be fine without me.”

Carlos gave her a look of frustration, crossing his arms. “Fine, but when you’re ready to tell me the truth, come and find me.”

Gina felt terrible when he walked out of the auditorium, slamming the door behind him. She kept trying to tell herself that this was all for the best, but it started to sound more like a lie every single time.

“I’ll try to talk to him,” EJ sighed, turning to leave.

Gina quickly grabbed his wrist and gave him a sad smile. “Don’t worry about it, he just needs some space.”

The senior wanted to protest, but he stopped when he saw the tired look on her face. He just nodded in understanding before moving to leave as well. 

“Wait.”

Gina and EJ turned to look back at Ricky, concerned expressions taking over their faces when they saw how pale he was. As he went to speak, the door to the auditorium opened and Harry walked in. Ricky immediately froze and shut his mouth, looking down at the ground. EJ and Gina glared at the older teen as he walked towards them and threw an arm around Ricky’s shoulders, pulling him close. 

“There you are!” the older teen exclaimed. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Sorry I’m late, I had some family business to take care of. ”

“It’s fine,” Ricky replied quickly.

Harry gave Gina and E.J. a suspicious look before looking back at the younger teen with a suspicious look on his face. “What were you guys talking about?”

Gina clenched her fists at the harshness of his tone, her spider-sense intensifying when she saw Ricky flinch.

“We were talking about the musical,” EJ cut in. “Miss Jenn said Ricky and I need to work on our chemistry.”

“She’s not wrong,” Harry mocked with a grin. “You need to start picking up your slack Caswell.”

Gina stepped in front of the senior before he could do anything irrational. She sent the older teen a fierce glare and his smile just widened. As much as she would like to punch that stupid smirk off of Harry’s face, she had to control herself. Harry wanted to get a reaction out of her and Gina refused to let him win.

Especially when he wasn’t afraid to use Ricky or the rest of her friends against her.

“As fun as this is, we should get going now,” Harry said. “I’ll see you guys around.”

Ricky gave them an apologetic look before the older teen pulled him out of the auditorium. 

“I swear to god I’m going to kick his ass,” EJ snapped. “Who the fuck does he think he is?”

“Harry Osborn, that’s who,” Gina replied sarcastically.

She was silently cursing over the fact that Ricky had almost told them something about Harry, but of course, luck wasn’t on her side.

“What do you think Ricky was going to tell us?” EJ asked quietly. 

The teen thought back to the bruises on Ricky’s neck and the way he reacted when she and Carlos were yelling at each other.

“I don’t know, but it probably wasn’t anything good,” Gina replied.

With Harry being the green goblin, who _knows_ what he was putting Ricky through. She’s been trying her best to protect her friends from all of this, but how long could she keep this up? Harry already tried hurting Nini and who knows who he’ll try to go after next.

But no matter what, Gina refuses to let her guard down. She’s going to protect her friends and her city.

Even if it kills her.

\---

When Mike Bowen opened his front door, he didn’t expect to see Lynne standing on the other side. He was also surprised to see how much she was crying and despite everything that has happened between them, he couldn’t help but worry.

“Lynne-”

“I don’t have much time,” she interrupted as she walked into the house. “Is Ricky still in school?”

“Yeah, he won’t be back until later,” Mike replied hesitantly. “Did you want to talk to him about something?”

“I came here to talk to you,” Lynne said sternly.

Mr. Bowen sighed in annoyance, crossing his arms. “Is this about the divorce papers? I told you I already sent the paperwork-”

“I need you to promise me something,” she said. cutting him off.

Mike looked at her expectantly and she hesitated, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear nervously.

“Promise me that if something happens, you’ll do everything in your power to make sure Ricky is safe,” she pleaded softly.

He gave Lynne a look of confusion as she spoke. “Where is this coming from?”

“Just promise me,” she demanded.

“Did something happen at work?” Mike questioned.

Lynne didn’t respond and he took that as her answer.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I didn’t mean for all of this to go so far,” she replied. “I just wanted to look after Ricky.”

“Look after Ricky?” Mike snapped. “You left your son to take some high-end job and make more money!”

“We needed the money,” Lynne argued. “We weren’t making enough to take care of ourselves let alone Ricky.”

“We were fine,” Mike said coldly. “You just got tired of me, of _us_.”

Lynne felt tears fall down her face as her ex-husband looked at her angrily. “Mike _please_ -”

“I always make sure Ricky is safe,” he replied, cutting her off. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’ll be here to clean up your mess. As usual.”

She winced at his harsh tone but silently nodded in response. Lynne walked towards the door to leave but she paused, turning back to face Mike one last time.

“Tell him I’m sorry, for everything,” she whispered. “He tried to tell me something important and I completely ignored him.”

“I’m not going to apologize to your son for you,” Mike deadpanned.

Lynne gave him a sad smile. “I don’t think I’m going to be around long enough to do it myself.”

Before he could ask her to elaborate, she was already gone.

\---

Seb and Kourtney gave each other a look when Carlos slammed another box of clothes down on the ground. She asked Seb to stay after rehearsal to try out some new make-up looks she had for Sharpay and Carlos came along since he and his boyfriend were planning on hanging out afterward. Kourtney asked him to organize some of the discarded clothes to keep him occupied while he waited, but it doesn’t seem like he’s focused on what he’s doing.

“So Gina really quit the show?” Seb asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, when I asked her she said she just needed to focus on family stuff right now,” Kourtney replied. “I’m still hoping that she’ll be able to come back, today was the first rehearsal without her and it didn’t feel the same.”

Carlos practically threw the next box on the ground causing the other teens to jump at the loud noise.

“It’s never going to be the same,” he snapped.

Kourtney narrowed her eyes at the shorter teen and crossed her arms. “Look, I understand you’re upset about Gina quitting, but you don’t have to take it out on me.”

Carlos huffed and he muttered an apology, turning back to move more clothes. Seb gave Kourtney a pleading look and she nodded in understanding before going out into the hallway, leaving the two boys in the dressing room alone. The blonde hesitated before walking over to Carlos and gently placing a hand on his back.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Seb asked gently. “I understand that you’re upset Gina left the show, but you seem more angry than upset.”

“Because I am angry!” Carlos replied fiercely, turning around to face his boyfriend. “She didn’t even talk to me about wanting to quit the show! Ever since Gina’s moved here we’ve told each other everything and she’s always told me the truth. Now she’s shutting me out all of a sudden and she’s lying to me!”

Seb gave him a worried look when tears started forming in his eyes.

“I feel like I did something wrong to push her away,” Carlos whispered brokenly. “Losing Gina feels like I’m losing a part of my family. The same thing goes for Ricky. I haven’t talked to him in _weeks_ because of Harry. The family I have already ignores me enough, and now my two best friends are drifting away from me? I feel just as alone as I did before.”

The blonde pulled his boyfriend into a tight hug, kissing his forehead. Carlos buried his face in Seb’s shoulder as he felt tears falling down his face. He knew that Carlos was close to Ricky and Gina, but not _this_ close.

But he’s not surprised.

Carlos opened up to Seb about how hard things were for him before he joined theatre. He’s the middle child out of all his siblings and is often ignored. When he came out, people were supportive but the jocks on the football team thought otherwise. It got so bad to the point where Carlos had to eat his lunch in the library.

Joining theatre changed all of that.

Carlos was able to be himself and was surrounded by people who care about him. Ricky and Gina were different because just like him, they did feel alone. Their home lives weren’t the greatest, but they were able to find a family in each other.

And now it felt like his entire world was coming apart.

“I understand why you’re upset, but you’re not alone,” Seb assured. “You have me, EJ, and the rest of the theatre kids. Gina and Ricky may be distant right now but that doesn’t mean they don’t care about you. I honestly don’t know what’s going on with Ricky and Harry but I’m sure he’ll come around soon. But with Gina, I know you want her to talk to you, but whatever she’s dealing with might not be something she’s ready to talk about. She’ll come to you when she’s ready.”

Carlos looked up, giving his boyfriend a grateful smile. “How did I get so lucky to find someone as great as you?”

The blonde blushed in embarrassment but smiled when the shorter teen kissed him on the cheek.

“I need to apologize to Gina for being so pushy,” Carlos said as he took out his phone.

“Wait to do it in person tomorrow,” Seb suggested. “She might want a day to herself after all of this.”

As much as he wanted to talk to Gina now, Carlos knew the blonde was right. He huffed in frustration but nodded in agreement. Kourtney walked back into the room with a nervous expression on her face.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s all good,” Carlos replied, smiling back at Seb. “Sorry again for snapping earlier. You were right, I was frustrated and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“It’s alright, I understand. Things are pretty stressful right now,” Kourtney replied.

“Well, I heard make-up reduces stress,” Seb said with a smile.

Carlos and Kourtney looked at him with suspicion and he blushed in embarrassment.

“Okay I just want to see what other make-up looks Kourt has for Sharpay,” the blonde admitted.

Kourtney squealed in delight before pulling Seb back onto the vanity fair before taking out her make-up supplies. Carlos pulled up and chair and sat next to him, holding one of Seb’s hands in his. As they started talking, Kourtney quickly pulled out her phone to respond to a text she sent earlier before turning her attention towards her friends.

**kourtney: i think u might be right**

**big red: I TOLD U**

**kourtney: im still not 100% on board with this,,, what if we’re completely wrong?**

**big red: we’ll just have to take that chance**

**big red: & we can say we were high or summ if we r wrong**

**kourtney: im not a stoner-**

**big red: its never to early to become one!**

**kourtney: …. I truly cant stand u**

**big red: u love me :)**

**kourtney: lies.**

**big red: >:(**

**\---**

“Can you guys please cut me some slack? It’s a school night!”

Gina quickly flipped out of the way when one of her attackers tried to stab her again. She was swinging around when she saw four guys trying to rob someone and she quickly jumped in and the civilian got away unharmed. Stopping a mugging usually didn’t take her that long to do, but Gina figured out these men got their hands on the Venom serum which made them stronger and it didn’t help that they were ganging up on her. She hissed in pain when one of them swiped her arm with a knife and she punched him across the face in retaliation.

Gina was eventually able to take them all down and webbed them together as she observed their behavior. Compared to the other criminals who took the Venom serum, they still seemed like they were under control. The teen felt nervous at this revelation since this could mean they were coming close to perfecting the serum. She had to find whoever this “bird” person was and stop this entire operation quickly.

Gina called the cops to come arrest the criminals but when she tried to swing away, she felt a sharp pain in her arm from where she got cut with the knife. She groaned in annoyance when she saw how deep the cut actually was and figured it would be best if she just walked to avoid any pain.

Today _really_ wasn’t her day.

She hated lying to her friends and seeing Carlos react like that made her feel even more guilty about everything. But she knew it was for the best. After walking for awhile Gina just decided to risk it and swing her way home and just deal with her wound later. As she started to move, her spider-sense went off at full force. The teen winced as it continued to grow more intense and quickly looked around for danger. Her eyes went wide in shock when a bird-like figure swooped down and cut through her web with ease.

The vigilante cried out in pain as she hit the ground. Gina quickly got up to face her attacker as her spider-sense only grew worse. She couldn’t help but feel terrified considering her spider-sense has never gotten this bad before, not even when she was fighting the green goblin.

This was different, and that terrified her.

“Hey, big bird!” Gina called out. “Are you sure you’re in the right place? This isn’t sesame street!”

Of course, her fear didn’t stop her from being a little shit.

Gina tried using her webs to grab the attacker’s wings, but they cut through her webs again and immediately charged at her. She was able to dodge the bird-like figure and grab one of their legs before slamming them into the ground. Gina quickly grabbed one of the metal wings and tried to break it using her enhanced strength, but her attacker used it to swing the vigilante away. They got back on their feet and flew back into the air before charging at Gina at a faster speed. The teen tried to jump out of the way but the bird-like figure was too fast and grabbed her by the shoulder with the metal talons attached their feet, causing Gina to cry out in pain. Her attacker slammed her against the wall and dug her talons deeper into the teen’s shoulder when she tried fighting back.

“You need to stay out of things that aren’t your business,” the bird-like figure hissed. “Oscorp won’t hesitate to kill you if you try and stop them.”

Gina observed her attacker and stared into the glowing green eyes of their mask. She realized who she was talking to when she saw a syringe of the Venom serum peeking out from her belt.

“It’s you,” the vigilante whispered. “The ‘bird who flies for Oscorp’ right? I know damn well Oscorp won’t kill me, but you will. So why not do it now?”

Gina cried out again as her attacker pushed her farther into the wall and used her other talon to dig into her left leg. Her ears were ringing from how intense her spider-sense was going off and it felt like her head was about to explode from the pain.

“My name is the Vulture you _freak_ ,” they hissed. “Just stay the hell away from this unless you want to die.”

She let the vigilante fall to the ground before flying away. Gina struggled to lift herself up and started to panic at the sight of the amount of blood surrounding her. 

_None_ of this made any sense.

The bird person - no, the Vulture - had the opportunity to kill her and they didn’t. What was Oscop’s endgame plan with all of this? Gina was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard police sirens coming towards her. Even if she was helping to fight crime, if the police saw her current condition they wouldn’t hesitate to try and bring her in. 

Gina had the Daily Bugle and Oscorp to thank for that, _again_.

She tried to move quickly but immediately slowed down when the pain from her wounds started to set in. Not only was her shoulder ripped to shreds, but she still had a deep cut on her arm and now she couldn’t even balance on both of her legs. She slowly limped out of the alleyway as a trail of blood followed her as she moved.

There was no way in _hell_ she was going to make it home like this.

Gina felt herself panic as the police sirens became louder and she quickly scanned her surroundings. The teen recognized one of the buildings and she froze, realizing where she was. She hesitated and looked back and saw police cars turn around the corner and felt her head start to spin from all of the blood loss.

This was a terrible idea and she was _definitely_ going to regret this later, but she had no other choice. 

\---

Nini was sitting in her bedroom scrolling through her phone when she heard a small knock at her window. She sat up in alarm and grabbed her pillow for defense before moving towards it.

What kind of crazy person was knocking at her window at almost two o’clock in the morning?

She froze and dropped the pillow in shock when she saw who it was. Nini quickly ran towards her window and opened it, her jaw-dropping at the sight of the bleeding vigilante who was struggling to stand up straight.

“Hey,” Spider-Woman slurred. “Sorry for barging it like this.”

That was the last thing she said before she collapsed. Nini caught the vigilante in her arms and started to panic when her hands were immediately drenched in blood. The teen pulled the hero into her room before slamming her window shut and closing the blinds. A million questions ran through her head as she gently laid Spider-Woman onto her bed.

What happened to her? Who did this? Why did she come to her house instead of going to a hospital?

More importantly: how the _hell_ did the vigilante even know where she lives?

Nini was broken out of her thoughts when she heard a cry of pain come from the superhero and ran to the bathroom to grab a first aid kit. Right now, it didn’t matter how Spider-Woman got here. She needed help and the teen was going to do whatever she could to do so

She saved her, and now it was Nini’s turn to do the same. 


	10. the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina felt her head spin after they spoke and tried to come up with an explanation for any of it, but she couldn’t. Her lies have finally caught up to her. 
> 
> She’s run out of excuses.
> 
> tw// mentions of abuse & blood

_Gina watched in horror as the green goblin dropped Nini from the sky. She tried to move but she was frozen in place and was forced to watch the other girl hit the ground. The teen was finally able to move and she ran towards Nini as the green goblin laughed from above her. Gina sobbed as she held her friend in her arms, cradling her head against her chest._

_She felt sick as Nini’s lifeless eyes faced her. The green goblin flew down, ripping off his mask to reveal Harry’s face._

_“It’s funny that you call me the villain when it’s really you,” he mocked. “Her blood is on your hands you freak!”_

_He laughed manically and flew in circles around her as she cried. Gina flinched when Nini’s head moved and blood started pouring out of her mouth. Her eyes filled with tears and she looked at Gina with a sad expression on her face._

_“You killed me,” she whispered brokenly. “You should’ve_ **_stayed away_ ** _.”_

Gina gasped as she woke up, sitting up in bed. She winced in pain from the movement, seeing that her shoulder was wrapped up with bandages. Her arm was healed but her left leg was wrapped up as well. The teen has fought tough criminals before, but _none_ of them even came close to the Vulture.

But despite the danger she was in, Gina knew she wasn’t going to die. She couldn’t explain it, but something about the entire encounter felt off. The Vulture threatened to kill her, but she didn’t even flinch despite the intensity of her spider-sense.

What did that even mean?

The teen huffed in frustration at the thought and looked around the room, remembering that she didn’t make it home last night when she saw the wall of Nini’s polaroids. Gina blushed when she realized she was wrapped up in the other girl’s blankets and due to her enhanced senses, she could tell they even smelled like her.

_God_ she was a mess.

She knew coming to Nini’s house was a huge risk, but she wasn’t left with much of a choice after the condition she was left in because of the fight.

Gina shivered when she remembered the feeling of the Vulture tearing their talons through her shoulder as if it was nothing. Even if they told the teen to stay out of it, Gina _definitely_ couldn’t now. She had to stop Oscorp from distributing the Venom serum to anyone else before they perfected it _and_ find a way to takedown Harry without him exposing her identity or hurting her friends.

With the Vulture on her radar now Gina knew this was a bigger risk, but she couldn’t just sit back and let all of this happen. She needed to come up with a solid plan soon before its too late. 

The teen was broken out of her thoughts when she heard the door open. Nini walked in the room holding a plate of pancakes and smiled when she saw the vigilante was awake.

“Hey,” she greeted gently. “I figured you would probably be hungry, and I got you some water. You need to stay hydrated.”

Gina hesitated before pulling her mask over her mouth so she would be able to eat. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until she smelled the pancakes and immediately started stuffing her face. She tried not to let Nini’s curious gaze bother her as she ate.

“Your shoulder is still in pretty bad shape,” the other teen informed. “Your leg still needs time to heal so you might have a limp for a while.”

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me,” Gina replied. 

Nini blushed as she pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear shyly. “Well you saved me before too, so, I guess this makes us even.”

Gina smiled at her before she continued to eat. Nini left at some point to go get more bandages to rewrap the vigilante’s shoulder when she saw it started bleeding again. They sat in a comfortable silence and Gina tried not to think about how close she was to the other teen.

She winced when Nini pulled a bandage tightly and she started to apologize frantically as Gina tried to tell her it was okay. She didn’t really notice it before, but Nini easily got flustered around her.

It’s cute.

Gina felt her face heat up at the thought as the other teen finished re-wrapping her shoulder. As Nini got up to put the first aid kit back, she bit her lip nervously and faced the vigilante. 

“This is probably an awkward question, but how did you know I would even be here?” she questioned hesitantly. “You could’ve stumbled into the room of a complete stranger.”

“I guess I got lucky,” Gina lied. 

Nini looked like she wanted to question her further but just nodded in response. Gina slowly got up and checked the time on her phone, groaning when she saw how late it was. Her eyes went wide in surprise when she saw her mom had called her and sent her multiple texts. The teen couldn’t even remember the last time she talked to her mom and gave up on sending her messages after getting nothing in return.

**mom: i’m on my way home**

**mom: I’ll be home a lot more now, things at work have gotten easier**

**mom: did you sleepover at a friend’s house?**

**mom: gina?**

**mom: I understand if you’re mad at me but I need to know if you’re okay**

**mom: message me as soon as you can**

“Damn it,” Gina muttered under her breath as she stood up. “Of _course_ she comes home now at the worst possible time.”

Nini walked back into the room when the vigilante finally made it to the window. Gina turned back to face her with a grateful smile on her face.

“Thanks again for the help, but I got to go,” she said.

“It was no problem at all, but please take it easy,” Nini replied. “Your shoulder still needs some time to heal.”

“I promise I’ll try,” Gina sighed. 

Nini hesitated before walking towards the vigilante and kissing her on the cheek. Gina felt he cheek heat up immediately from the contact. She did do the same thing after the green goblin incident, but this time her cheek was exposed.

If Nini was going to do this every time Gina saw her as Spider-Woman, she was convinced the other girl would kill her before the Vulture could. 

“My moms always say kisses are the best medicine, so, yeah, just, don’t do anything stupid,” Nini said quickly as her British accent started to come out.

“Whatever you say,” Gina replied cheekily. “Stay safe princess. I’ll see you around.”

She pulled her mask back over her mouth before swinging away, leaving a very flustered Nini behind. Gina didn’t even know where that nickname _came_ from. She’s never flirted with anyone before, but doing it as Spider-Woman was just so easy. 

Especially because Nini was already impressed with her.

Gina groaned as she felt her face heat up when she thought about the other teen. She felt like she was manipulating Nini in a way, but she was too shy to do anything as herself. If only she could focus on figuring out her feelings towards Nini, but _no_. She had two psychos running around in costumes who were trying to kill her to worry about. 

The teen has said this a million times but seriously: _fuck_ that stupid spider.

Gina finally reached her house and smiled slightly when she saw her mom’s car in the driveway.

Maybe one thing in her life could stay the same after all.

She crawled up to her bedroom window and slipped in, pulling on some clothes to hide her suit and grabbed her backpack to make it look like she wasn’t home. Gina looked around before crawling out of her window and running towards the front of the house. Before she could even open the door, two men walked out of her house carrying a huge box. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before walking inside. Several men were walking around the house carrying a variety of different things. Gina was surprised when she realized how different everything looked and figured her mom was redecorating. But was all of this really necessary? Since when could they even afford to do this anyway?

Gina’s mom was talking to one of the workers when she saw her and smiled before walking towards Gina to pull her into a hug. She returned the hug immediately, frowning slightly when she noticed something felt off.

“You have no idea how much I missed you!” she exclaimed, kissing her daughter’s forehead.

“Yeah, me too,” Gina replied quietly.

The teen felt her spider-sense go off slightly and she pulled away from her mom who just kept smiling at her.

What the hell? There was no danger around, was there something wrong her? Maybe because of her injuries? Or maybe she was just adjusting to seeing her mom again after so long?

There was no reason for her spider-sense to go off, especially not around her _mom_.

“So did you go to a sleepover?” her mom asked, breaking Gina out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, it was-”

“I’m glad you have friends to do these things with now,” Ms. Porter said, cutting her off. “Anyway, how would you feel about having a TV in your room?”

The teen felt her spider-sense intensify as she looked at her mom in disbelief.

“Mom, what is all of this?” Gina questioned. “I missed you, but you ignored me for _weeks_ , and now you're acting as if you never left! And what’s with all of these guys in the house moving stuff? We could barely afford to get ramen a couple of weeks ago and now we have the money to redecorate?”

“I got a promotion,” her mom replied. “The pay is really good and since I’ve been working so hard I decided it would be nice to give the house a makeover! So, about that TV?”

She looked at her mom in disbelief who just kept smiling as if everything was normal.

“I’ll pass,” Gina muttered. “I’m going to my room.”

Before Ms. Porter could say anything else the teen ran upstairs and flopped onto her bed before screaming into her pillows.

So much for one thing in her life staying the same.

\---

As soon as Spider-Woman left, Nini grabbed her pillow and screamed into it. As much as she wanted to tell Kourtney about all of this, the other girl said she was hanging out with Big Red today so she didn’t want to intrude.

So she called the next person that came to mind.

“No way,” Rico said in disbelief. “She came to your _house_?”

Ever since the sleepover Nini has grown a lot closer with Rico and they tend to call each other late at night when they can’t sleep. She still considers Kourtney to be her best friend, but Rico comes at a close second, especially because of what they both went through.

It was nice to have someone else that understood. 

“Yes, and I’m still trying to figure about if I dreamed the entire thing or not,” Nini replied as she paced around her room. 

“That’s insane,” he whispered. “Spider-Woman knows where you live?!?!”

“She got lucky,” Nini lied. “That’s what she told me.”

She still didn’t completely believe what the vigilante said, but she couldn’t help it. When Spider-Woman pulled up her mask, Nini could’ve sworn she looked familiar. She felt like there was something the hero wasn’t telling her, but she didn’t want to look into it.

Not yet at least.

“I also, might’ve, kissed her,” Nini muttered in embarrassment. “Twice.”

“ _WHAT_?!” Rico yelled.

Nini had to pull her phone away from her ear as the other teen’s voice got even louder. She didn’t know what came over her, but it just happened. But really, “kisses are the best medicine”? Nini felt her face heat up at that lame excuse, but it also didn’t help that she had a nickname now.

_Stay safe Princess_

The teen hated that she didn’t despise the nickname.

“Dude, she could be like 40!” Rico exclaimed, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“I’m pretty sure she’s our age,” Nini defended, remembering how young Spider-Woman sounded when she spoke.

“You’re whipped,” he deadpanned.

Nini blushed in embarrassment as Rico continued to tease her. As much as she liked the vigilante, she was extremely confused. The only other person she’s felt this way around was Gina. 

Was it possible to like two people at the same time?

She felt her blush darken at the thought, but it also made her feel slightly guilty. As much as she liked Gina, there was something about Spider-Woman that felt so familiar.

Nini really couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Anyway, I meant to ask how your date with Kaden went the other day?” she asked, changing the subject.

The teen smiled as Rico gushed about his boyfriend, her feelings for both Gina and Spider-Woman becoming an afterthought.

She would figure it out later.

\---

EJ and Ashlyn were watching TV when the doorbell rang. Ashlyn’s parents went out of town of the weekend and she didn’t want to be home alone, so E.J. offered to sleepover to keep her company. The senior gave her cousin a look and she rolled her eyes as she got up.

“Fine, I’ll get the door,” she muttered. “Lazy ass.”

“Love you too!” he replied sarcastically. 

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he heard Ashlyn gasp.

“EJ,” she said urgently.

He got up and ran towards the door, freezing when he saw who it was. Ricky was standing there with his arms wrapped around himself as he trembled, but all the senior could focus on was the black eye the younger teen had.

“I’m sorry,” Ricky whispered brokenly. “I had nowhere else to go, and you live the closest to my house and everyone else is busy-” Ashlyn gently pulled him into the house with a concerned look on her face, cutting him off. “Don’t you dare apologize. You always have a place here, okay?” He just nodded silently in response, keeping his gaze on the ground. Ashlyn gave EJ a look as she guided Ricky to the couch.

“Does your dad know where you are?” she asked gently.

“He’s out of town for the week,” Ricky replied quietly. “Harry was staying with me.”

Ashlyn and EJ felt dread settle in their stomachs at his response, but they had a feeling the older teen was responsible for this. 

“I’m going to get a first aid kit,” Ashlyn said. “I’ll be right back.” EJ hesitantly sat next to Ricky when she left the room. He wanted to say something to help comfort the other teen, but no words came to mind. EJ couldn’t help but stare at the shorter teen’s black eye.

He was going to _kill_ Harry.

The senior knew he was an asshole, but _this_? Being abusive? This was an entirely different level of cruelty that the senior didn’t even know Harry was capable of. 

“I shouldn’t have come,” Ricky said, breaking the silence, “I’ll go-”

“Stop,” EJ snapped, cutting him off. “You’re not going back, especially not after this.”

“Maybe I deserve it,” the younger teen argued. “Especially after how badly I treated you and everyone else? You guys were trying to help me and I acted like an asshole.”

“Absolutely not,” EJ protested. “Ricky I don’t care how many times I have to say it, you don’t deserve any of this.”

Ricky pulled his knees up to his chest as tears formed in his eyes. “I’m really sorry about what I said. I was trying to push you away but I only ended up hurting you. I wouldn’t blame you for hating me.”

“I could never hate you,” EJ replied honestly.

The teens sat in silence until Ashlyn came back with a first aid kit. Ricky winced when she accidentally pressed too hard on his eye and she silently apologized. E.J. felt his anger grow when he saw how bad the black eye looked now that Ashlyn was trying to treat it.

“Is this what you were going to tell me and Gina the other day?” the senior asked. “About Harry?”

Ricky hesitated before nodding. It’s not like he could make up any more lies now.

He had to come clean.

“How long has he been hurting you?” Ashlyn asked seriously.

“Since the day of the sleepover,” Ricky whispered. 

“Why didn’t you say something before?” EJ questioned.

“He threatened to hurt you guys,” Ricky replied as tears started forming in his eyes. “I was so scared so I listened, but today he went too far and I can’t keep lying.” E.J. pulled him into a side hug and rubbed his back comfortingly.

“What did he do?” Ashlyn asked quietly.

“He was on the phone with Todd. I don’t know what they were talking about, but it didn’t sound good,” Ricky explained. “He started yelling and then he threw his phone at the wall. I tried to calm him down but he just screamed in my face and ended up punching me. I fell because of how hard he hit me and before he could say anything else, I just got up and ran.”

EJ and Ashlyn looked shocked as the other teen continued to explain.

“There’s something wrong with him,” Ricky continued. “There are times where he yells at me, or talks about himself in the third person and keeps saying that he’s dead. Other times I would find him crying and begging for help.” Ashlyn and EJ didn’t even know how to respond to that. They knew you shouldn’t judge a book but it’s cover, but Harry seemed completely normal. Well, whatever you considered normal behavior from a spoiled rich kid. 

Either way, this entire situation is insane. 

“I don’t understand, I know Harry can be an asshole, but he was always nice to you. Even before you guys started dating,” EJ pointed out.

“That’s the thing,” Ricky argued. “We never really were. He asked me to pretend to be his boyfriend.”

“Why would he ask you to fake date him?” Ashlyn asked in confusion. 

“He kept going on about this plan but he never went into details,” he replied. “None of it ever made any sense.”

They all froze when someone angrily knocked on the door. Ricky’s eyes went wide in fear when the person started yelling, immediately recognizing Harry’s voice. Ashlyn was the first to get up and answered the door, glaring at the older teen fiercely

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” she hissed. “Leave, _now_.”

“I’ll leave with my boyfriend,” Harry snapped.

“You mean your fake boyfriend? Who you followed here like a creep?” Ashlyn questioned.

EJ and Ricky walked towards the door as Ashlyn told Harry off. He looked taken aback at what she said, looking towards Ricky who hid behind EJ as Harry narrowed his eyes at him.

“You little _bitch_ ,” he scoffed. “I told you-”

“You don’t control him,” EJ snapped, cutting him off. “You’ve done enough. Leave before we call the cops.”

Harry laughed in disbelief but didn’t argue, smiling when he saw how scared Ricky looked.

“This isn’t over Bowen,” Harry growled as his eyes turned green. “I’m not done with you.” He glared at them one last time before walking away and Ashlyn slammed the door shut in retaliation. EJ pulled Ricky into a hug as he started crying again, hiding his face in the other teen’s shoulder. Ashlyn hugged Ricky from behind, resting her head on his.

“It’s going to be okay,” she assured softly. “We won’t let him hurt you again.”

They stood there holding Ricky for a while until the teen calmed down. They moved back to the couch and Ashlyn went to get Ricky some pajamas to wear, and EJ pretended not to notice that his cousin took one of his hoodies to give to the younger teen. Ashlyn also grabbed an ice pack so Ricky could hold it over his eye. EJ doesn’t know what his cousin did, but his black eye was looking a lot better already. They went back to watching TV and Ashlyn fell asleep first, resting her head on Ricky’s lap.

“EJ?”

The senior looked at the younger teen who was biting his lip nervously.

“I lied,” he admitted. “That moment we had in the theatre room? It did mean something.” EJ didn’t say anything in response but he wrapped his arm around Ricky’s shoulders, pulling him close as he felt his face heat up. The younger teen rested his head on his shoulder with a small blush on his face. 

They stayed like that for the rest of the night, unspoken feelings looming above them. 

\---

Gina tried not to break her phone as she read over EJ’s texts. Her anger only grew at the fact Harry not only hurt Ricky but followed him to Ashlyn’s house, but was relieved that he left and her friends were safe. Hopefully, this means Harry - or the green goblin, she really didn’t know what to call him at this point - wouldn’t be coming back to school, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t come back and try to pull something else. EJ warned her that Harry threatened Ricky, so she had to make sure to keep an eye out.

She refused to let her guard down.

“Gina? Some of your friends are here to see you!” her mom called.

The teen was confused but walked downstairs being mindful of her limp. It was almost nine o’clock at night and they had school tomorrow, who could it be? Her eyebrows went up in surprise when she saw Kourtney and Big Red standing in the kitchen waiting for her. 

“I have to go get some groceries but there should still be some snacks in the pantry, I’ll be right back,” Ms. Porter said, smiling at the teens before leaving.

As soon as her mom left, Gina felt her spider-sense go off slightly as her friends looked at her nervously.

This couldn’t be good.

“Not that I don’t want to see you guys, but what are you doing here?” Gina asked. “It’s pretty late.”

“This is too important,” Kourtney replied. “It’s best to do it now.”

“You might want to sit down for this,” Big Red warned.

She gave them both suspicious looks but she sat down as her spider-sense grew more intense. Big Red started pacing around the room as Kourtney sat across from Gina, giving her a nervous smile.

“We understand that there’s been a lot going on in your life, but you’ve been kind of off lately,” Kourtney said. “Like, really off.”

She didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“Family stuff can get intense,” Gina lied.

“Does Oscorp have anything to do with your family stuff?” Big Red questioned. 

The teen froze in shock as her friends looked at her expectantly. Her spider-sense was going haywire as Big Red continued.

“When you asked me about Oscorp, I didn’t think anything of it. It made sense at the time, we just went on a field trip there and it was pretty sketchy, who wouldn’t want to talk about it?” he explained. “But then Spider-Woman came along.”

“Nini was the one who came up with the name. Everyone was calling her 'the spider person’ and then all of a sudden the next day, she’s Spider-Woman?” Kourtney added. “Not to mention her suit has a lot of similarities to the one I showed you.”

Big Red stopped pacing and sat down next to Kourtney to face Gina. “Then Harry came along and befriended Ricky. The first day he came to school and got swarmed by the paparazzi? You could barely stand up straight that day but you moved through that crowd like it was nothing! I’m not the biggest fan of Harry myself, but you already had beef with him from the beginning, even before E.J. He’s connected to Oscorp, the company you have an interest in all of a sudden?”

“I overheard Carlos and Seb talking about how you were distancing yourself, and then you quit the show out of the blue?” Kourtney continued. “Ashlyn also told us about that weird sample you were looking at. She didn’t think anything of it, but we’re going to assume it has something to do with Oscorp.”

Gina felt like she was going to be sick. This couldn’t be happening, not now.

“Overall, you’ve just been different,” Big Red said. “When you were still in the musical you were never focused on anything and as soon as rehearsals were over, you left in a rush. You’ve also been coming to school with injuries lately. You’re hurt right now! You walked down here with a limp!”

“You tell Carlos and Ricky everything, no matter what,” Kourtney stated. “We know you never really opened up before, but things have changed. No matter how bad things at home were if you didn’t tell us, you told them. But this time it was never really family drama, was it? Or that just wasn’t the entire story?”

Gina felt her head spin after they spoke and tried to come up with an explanation for any of it, but she couldn’t. Her lies have finally caught up to her. She’s run out of excuses.

“You’re Spider-Woman,” Big Red stated confidently.

Well shit. 


	11. the plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her friends gave her worried looks as she tried to calm herself down. It didn’t matter how many times she said it, they wouldn’t be able to understand.
> 
> No one would.
> 
> tw// violence & death

Gina couldn’t believe this was happening. She pinched herself to make sure this wasn’t just some nightmare and felt dread settle in her stomach when she looked up and saw Kourtney and Big Red staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

She tried to be careful, but her Spider-Woman duties were piling up and it pulled her focus away from trying to act normal during school. The number of people who would kill to know Gina’s identity wouldn’t hesitate to go after her friends and get it out of them.

This was it, her worst fear coming true.

Gina wanted to keep her friends away from this part of her life. She wanted to keep them safe. But she failed, and now they’re in more danger than they were before. 

“You need to leave, _now_ ,” Gina demanded. “You guys can’t be here-”

“Absolutely not,” Big Red argued, cutting her off. “This is too big to ignore.”

“Do you have any idea what you guys have done?!” she snapped. “You just put yourselves in danger by digging into this!”

“So what?” Kourtney countered. “You’re putting yourself in danger every day trying to protect this city. What’s the difference?”

“The difference is I can _defend_ myself!” Gina yelled. “Being Spider-Woman has only caused me to make enemies. If they found out you guys knew who I really am, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill you. And then what?”

Her friends gave her worried looks as she tried to calm herself down. It didn’t matter how many times she said it, they wouldn’t be able to understand.

No one would.

“Gina, we were in danger before we even knew,” Kourtney said gently. “I get that you want to keep us safe, but even before all of this, we’re always vulnerable. The bad guy doesn’t have to be in a goblin mask flying around the city.”

“As harsh as it sounds, you can’t save everyone,” Big Red added. “You do your best to help who you can, but there are over 1 billion people in the world. You can’t expect yourself to save all of them, can you?”

“You don’t have to carry the world on your shoulders Gina,” Kourtney said. “We didn’t tell anyone else what we know, not even Ashlyn as much as I hate lying to her. But you don’t have to do this alone anymore, we can help you.”

Gina hated that they were right. As much as she kept telling herself she needed to get them to stay away from her, she didn’t want them to. She was so tired of lying to everyone and she had no one else to talk to about this.

Even if they didn’t completely understand, if they’re still here to listen, isn’t that enough?

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone else,” Gina whispered.

“We swear,” Big Red replied.

So Gina told them everything. She doesn’t know how long she talked, but by the time she was finished, it was past midnight. She silently noted her mom still wasn’t back yet but made no vocal notice of it. Big Red and Kourtney were looking at the Venom sample as Gina explained how the criminals who took it were affected.

“This is insane,” Big Red said in disbelief.

“Why would Oscorp need something like this?” Kourtney questioned. “Don’t they have the green goblin? Well, I guess I should say Harry.”

“They’re probably trying to recreate what happened to me,” Gina replied.

“But Harry knows who you are right? Why hasn’t he said anything?” Big Red asked. “If they really wanted to go through with their plan, wouldn’t he just come after you and get it over with?”

“That’s what I thought at first, but when he started ‘dating’ Ricky, I figured out he was trying to use him to get to me,” she explained. “But that plan never really went anywhere.”

Kourtney stayed silent as her friends continued talking and thought about what they were saying.

“Maybe the plan never went anywhere because Harry didn’t want to do it,” she said, catching Gina and Big Red’s attention. “The green goblin wanted to use Ricky, not Harry.”

Her friends just looked confused and Kourtney huffed in frustration.

“Harry is the green goblin, but he isn’t,” she tried to explain. “His behavior has completely changed right? One minute he’s being all buddy-buddy with Ricky, and the next he’s treating him like a ragdoll. No one changes that fast in one day!”

“You think they’re two different people? Living in the same body?” Big Red asked in disbelief. “How is that even possible?”

“It’s Oscorp, anything is possible at this point,” Gina replied. 

It made more sense. As much as she despised Harry, Gina knew he wasn’t the type of person to resort to violence unless it was absolutely necessary.

It also explained that weird green tinge his eyes turned every time she talked to him.

“Well Harry is out of the picture, which means the green goblin is the least of our problems right now,” Big Red said.

“He’ll be back,” Gina warned.

“He probably will, but I don’t think he has anything to do with Oscorp’s big plan,” Kourtney pointed out. “That lies in the Venom serum.”

“Whatever made Harry the green goblin was something completely different from the Venom serum,” Big Red explained. “From what you’ve told me, even if it does make criminals stronger, the effect isn’t permanent. The green goblin got his powers and they’re permanent just like yours. But the effects of the Venom serum are lasting longer which means they’re getting closer to their goal. Oscorp is definitely working towards replicating what happened to you, but in a different form.”

“Do you really think they’re trying to make an army of super-humans or something?” Gina questioned as she felt her spider-sense go off slightly at the thought.

“There have been rumors that Oscorp has been in contact with the military recently, and Todd is known to be power-hungry,” Kourtney replied. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“The Vulture is helping Oscorp give out the serum,” Gina added. “If I stop them, I can go to Oscorp and end all of this before it gets worse.”

Her friends nodded in agreement and went back to looking over the Venom serum. Gina smiled slightly at the sight, feeling a huge weight lift off of her shoulders. She’s been Spider-Woman for _weeks_ and hasn’t been able to put all of the pieces together. Talking it out with Kourtney and Big Red made it easier to figure everything out and it was just nice to talk to someone about all of this.

Maybe them figuring out her secret wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

“Can we please have a team name or something?” Big Red begged, breaking Gina out of her thoughts.

“Absolutely not,” Kourtney deadpanned.

“Secret Spidey Trio it is,” Big Red declared cheekily.

Gina snickered at the look of disbelief on Kourtney’s face as Big Red continued to repeat the name.

“Hey, it’s pretty late,” Gina mentioned. “Do you guys want to sleepover and we can just go to school together tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Kourtney replied. “That’ll give me plenty of time to redesign your suit because no offense, it needs a lot of work.”

“I can also try to look into the Venom serum more and try to figure out what it’s made out of,” Big Red added. “But we’re definitely going to need to go to Mr. Mazzara’s lab tomorrow so I can use his microscope.” 

The teen really couldn’t believe how committed they were to helping, but she was grateful for it. She smiled at them and moved to go find the sleeping bags her mom had so her friends could use them, but Kourtney’s grip on her wrist stopped her.

“We can also talk,” she suggested gently.

“Being Spider-Woman doesn’t come without baggage,” Big Red added. “We obviously want to help you catch the bad guys, but we’re your friends first. Whenever you need to vent we’ll be here to listen.”

Gina didn’t hesitate before pulling them into a hug as tears formed in her eyes. They ended up talking for the entire night as the vigilante told them everything she kept bottled up. At some point, they fell asleep holding each other and Gina had never felt so at peace than she did at that moment. 

Yeah, her secret coming out was definitely a good thing.

\---

“So he just vanished?”

Ricky nodded hesitantly as Carlos tried to wrap his head around the situation. They were standing by the lockers as they waited for first period to start. EJ and Ashlyn told him and Seb about everything that went down with Harry, and Carlos couldn’t help but feel relieved that he was gone.

But where the _hell_ did he go?

“I don’t know what happened, but he was acting like such an asshole,” Ashlyn grumbled. 

“Something did seem kind of off about him,” Seb added. “I thought I was being paranoid but I guess I was right.”

“I’m really sorry guys,” Ricky said quietly. “I acted like I complete jerk and I should’ve said something earlier.”

“It’s not your fault, Harry was manipulating you,” EJ argued. “You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

Carlos smiled when he saw his friend blush slightly at EJ’s words, knowing that the senior would help him get through this. He heard someone laughing down the hall and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he saw Gina, Big Red, and Kourtney enter the school together.

Since when did they hang out together?

He knew he had to apologize, but there was something else telling him not to. Carlos knows Seb told him not to push Gina, but something didn’t feel right. The teen narrowed his eyes when Gina was telling Kourtney and Big Red something with a serious expression on her face as they walked towards them. Was she talking to them about what’s going on? Seb was going to kill him for this, but Carlos had to know.

This went deeper than family issues.

“Hey guys,” Carlos greeted awkwardly as they approached.

“Hey, we heard what happened with Harry,” Big Red replied, facing Ricky. “I’m just glad you’re okay dude.”

“Thanks Red,” he said with a small smile.

“Well we have to go work on our chemistry project, but we’ll see you guys later,” Kourtney informed, grabbing Big Red’s arm.

Carlos noticed the look they gave Gina before walking away. His anger only grew when she started talking to Ricky as if everything was okay. Seb noticed how tense he was being and went to say something, but Carlos beat him to the punch.

“What was that about?” he questioned, catching Gina’s attention. “Since when did you grow that close with Big Red and Kourtney?”

“It was nothing,” she replied, “We were just talking.”

“About the things you said you couldn’t talk to us about?” Carlos snapped.

Gina looked shocked as everyone else grew silent, looking between them in concern.

“Carlos,” Seb warned.

Gina narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, looking down at the other teen. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“My problem is that you keep lying!” Carlos exclaimed in annoyance. “There’s something else going on that Kourtney and Big Red know about isn’t there?”

“You’re not my only friend Carlos,” Gina snapped. “I can hang out with other people and talk to them about whatever I want, it’s none of your business.”

“So they do know?” Carlos asked.

She didn’t say anything and the teen took her silence as his answer.

“Carlos, cut it out,” Ricky said, “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Yes it is Ricky!” he argued. “Gina can’t come to us, her closest friends but she can go to other people?!”

“Dude, you need to calm down,” EJ countered.

Carlos glared at both of them fiercely. “Is this seriously not bothering either one of you? At all? She’s keeping secrets!”

As much as he wanted to apologize, he couldn’t bring himself to. Watching Gina open up to Kourtney and Big Red hurt, especially after how she insisted she couldn’t tell them anything. He felt left out, just like he did at home. Being with Ricky and Gina wasn’t supposed to feel like this, and he hated how being with his friends was starting to make him feel just as shitty as it was being at home.

“We all have secrets Carlos,” Ashlyn said gently, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Shouldn’t we feel comfortable enough to share those secrets with our friends?” Carlos shot back.

“Oh my god _enough_!” Gina yelled.

Carlos flinched back when she saw how angry she was.

“I get that you’re frustrated with me, and I’m sorry, but did you take a second to think that maybe you wouldn’t be able to fucking understand what I’m going through??” she snapped. “You don’t even know the half of it.”

“But Kourtney and Big Red-”

“Understand my situation better than you ever could,” Gina replied fiercely, cutting him off.

The shorter teen was taken aback by her words, and he swore he saw regret in her eyes after she spoke.

When did things between them get so complicated?

“So all of a sudden people that you barely talk to understand you more than your best friends?” Carlos asked.

“ _Carlos_ ,” Seb hissed. “What the hell?”

“They’re my friends too you asshole,” Gina said coldly. “You can’t control who I can and can’t talk to. When you’re done acting like a control freak, come and find me” She walked away, purposely shoving Carlos as she left. He was shocked at how hard she hit him, rubbing his shoulder to ease the pain.

Since when was she so strong?

“You’re an actual asshole,” EJ snapped.

“EJ don’t,” Ricky warned.

The senior ignored him and glared at Carlos harshly. “We told you not to push and now look what you’ve done. You don’t have to know everything Carlos!”

“I just want to help her,” he argued.

“You can help her by leaving her _alone_ ,” EJ snapped. “Just let it go already.” The bell rang for first period and he gave Carlos a warning look before leaving with Ashlyn following him. Ricky and Seb looked at Carlos in concern as the teen stared at the ground, clenching his fists tightly.

“That wasn’t an apology,” Seb scolded, “Where did that come from?”

“I know you’re worried about Gina, but you literally blew up in her face,” Ricky added. 

Carlos groaned, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know. I was going to apologize, but then she walked in with Kourtney and Big Red and I just snapped. She made a big deal about not saying anything to us, but all of a sudden she’s telling them everything?”

“You don’t know if she said anything,” Seb argued.

“I know she did,” Carlos replied. “She’s hiding something and they know what it is.”

“Why can’t you let this go?” Ricky asked exasperatedly. “She’ll tell us when she’s ready.”

Carlos shook his head in disagreement, looking in the direction Gina walked away in. “Not about this, something feels different.”

He didn’t know what Gina was hiding, but he was determined to find out.

\---

Nini was trying to focus on what Rico and Kaden were talking about, but all she could think about was Spider-Woman. Ever since their encounter, the teen couldn’t help but wonder why the vigilante seemed so familiar. 

Something wasn’t adding up.

“Ricky told me that Carlos and Gina had another fight,” Kaden said, breaking Nini out of her thoughts.

“I hope they figure it out, they never fight,” Rico replied. “I kinda feel bad for Ricky too since he’s just stuck in the middle of it.”

“What were they fighting about?” Nini questioned.

They were currently in english class and the teens were supposed to be working on a project for Hamlet, but this seemed more important.

“Something about Gina keeping secrets and Carlos being too pushy,” Kaden replied as he drew random things in his notebook. “EJ yelled at Carlos about it which just made everything worse.”

Nini leaned back in her seat as Rico attempted to get Kaden to focus on the project. Carlos wasn’t wrong to be suspicious, Gina has been acting kind of different lately. The teen is still upset about her quitting the show.

Things weren’t the same without Gina and everyone knew it. 

She couldn’t help but let her thoughts drift back to Spider-Woman. As much as she wanted to believe the vigilante just got lucky and stumbled into her house, Nini knew that was far from the truth. She kept going back and forth between Gina and Spider-Woman so much that the lines began to blur between her thoughts.

“Ashlyn told me she’s still worried about Gina though,” Rico sighed. “After Gina pushed into Carlos with her shoulder Ashlyn noticed that she winced.”

“Do you think she hurt herself?” Kaden asked, catching Nini’s attention.

“From what Ashlyn said yeah, but what did she do to hurt her shoulder?” Rico replied. 

Nini’s eyes went wide as an unexpected thought popped into her head at Rico’s words. Spider-Woman hurt her shoulder badly when she came to visit, and now all of a sudden Gina had the same injury? It sounded crazy in her head, but what if shes’s right?

The bell rang for lunch and Nini quickly pulled out her phone to text Carlos.

**nini: hey**

**nini: we need to talk**

**nini: i think i know whats going on with gi**

\---

Kourtney and Big Red watched as Gina sadly stared at her phone. It was their lunch period and they decided to hide out in Mr. Mazzara’s lab to talk about the plan - or Spidey business according to Big Red - and to look further into the Venom serum. Ever since the period started, Gina silently stared at her phone with Carlos’ number on display. Big Red was using the microscope to look at the Venom sample while Kourtney was attempting to comfort the younger teen.

“I’m a terrible friend,” Gina whined, burying her head in her arms.

“Both of you just got upset, it’s going to be fine,” Kourtney assured.

“But he was right, I am lying,” she muttered. “He has every right to be suspicious about all of this.”

As much as Gina wanted to tell Carlos the truth, Big Red and Kourtney knowing was already a big risk. She didn’t mean to get so angry, but with everything going on and the constant questions she was receiving got the best of her and she blew up. Gina really wanted to apologize to Carlos, but keeping her distance was probably for the best right now 

“Well you’re doing this for his protection, so that doesn’t make you a bad friend,” Big Red argued, looking up from the microscope.

She didn’t say anything in response and he went back to looking at the sample as Kourtney looked over his shoulder in curiosity. Gina hated fighting with Carlos, but ever since the spider bite it’s all they’ve been doing.

Carlos can be very stubborn and no matter how many times people are going to tell him to let this go, Gina knows he’s not going to stop. She was snapped out of her thoughts when her spider-sense went off. Gina sat up quickly looked around the room to see if they were about to be attacked, but they were still alone. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she saw the Venom sample moving faster than usual.

Did it get bigger too, or was she just seeing things?

Gina’s eyebrows shot up in panic when she figured out what was about to happen and tried to warn Big Red, but she was too late.

“ _OH SHIT!_ ”

Kourtney screamed when the Venom sample jumped up from the microscope, landing right in the middle of Big Red’s face. He yelled as Gina and Kourtney ran towards him, trying to get it off.

“I’m gonna die I’m gonna die _I'M GONNA DIE!_ ” he screamed.

Gina grabbed him and pressed his against the wall as Kourtney tried to get the Venom sample off of his face. Big Red continued to scream as it moved around his face and the other teens tried to calm him down.

“If you don’t stop screaming I swear to _god_ ,” Kourtney hissed, growing even more frustrated when the sample started moving faster. 

She was finally able to get it off and quickly threw it in a beaker, covering it with her textbook. The teens watched in awe as the sample moved around frantically, trying to break out of the beaker.

“Well, at least we know it’s alive,” Big Red said weakly.

“I don’t understand, why would Oscorp give a live sample for criminals to inject themselves with?” Gina questioned. “Why not just a regular serum?”

Kourtney looked at the Venom sample, her eyes going wide in fear as she realized something. 

“Because this would stay in their systems,” she said slowly. “It’s like a parasite.”

“So all those criminals that I put in jail didn’t just lose their strength,” Gina concluded. “They’re just waiting for the right time to break out.”

Well shit.

“Oh this is _bad_ ,” Big Red whispered. 

Gina pulled at her hair in frustration as Big Red and Kourtney started to panic. There was no way in _hell_ the police were going to be able to hold back all of those criminals by themselves. She could barely keep up when she was fighting them one on one.

If those criminals escaped, the entire _city_ would be at risk. The thought of that made the teen sick to her stomach.

“So Oscorp created an army, perfect!” Big Red exclaimed sarcastically.

“It’s like their goal keeps changing!” Gina whined. “First they want to recreate what happened to me, then they want to kill me, and now they have an entire army of superpowered criminals that can rip the entire city apart?!?!” 

“We need an entirely different plan,” Kourtney said frantically. 

“We still need to stop the Vulture, they’re the supplier of the Venom serum,” Gina pointed out. “But now we need to figure out a way to get the venom out of these criminals permanently.”

“Well before I was viciously attacked,” Big Red said dramatically, causing his friends to roll their eyes. “I was able to analyze the serum fully and I think I could create an anti-venom formula.”

“How long do you think that would take?” the vigilante asked.

Big Red huffed in frustration as he looked around the lab. “Well I don’t have a lot to work with so I honestly don’t know.”

“I could help,” Kourtney suggested. “If we both work on it we’ll hopefully fix up something in time.”

Big Red looked at her suspiciously, crossing his arms. 

“Are _you_ in AP Chemistry?” he questioned curiously.

“I took it last year clifford,” Kourtney scoffed, narrowing her eyes.

Gina snorted as Big Red gasped in offense but didn’t oppose to the other teen’s help.

“Okay, you guys work on the anti-venom and I’ll track down the Vulture and try to shut them down,” Gina said.

“Secret Spidey Trio on three!” Big Red exclaimed, putting his hand out.

Kourtney gave him a look of disbelief. “Are you seriously sticking with that name?”

He smiled in response and she rolled her eyes, but still placed her hand on top of his. Gina did the same and gave them both a serious look. 

“This is your last chance to back out,” the teen warned. “I don’t know what’s going to happen know, but it isn’t going to be easy.”

“There’s no way in hell we’re letting you do this alone,” Kourtney argued.

“Like it or not, you’re stuck with us,” Big Red added.

Gina gave them a small smile and they threw their hands up, laughing when Big Red started cheering at their team name. She froze when she felt her spider-sense go off, immediately knowing who was at the door. 

“What's going on here?”

The teens screamed and quickly turned around, blocking the Venom sample. Mr. Mazzara was standing in the doorway with an annoyed expression on his face.

“Just working on a project,” Gina lied.

“I heard screaming from down the hall,” he said suspiciously. 

Kourtney and Gina glared at Big Red who smiled innocently. “We saw a really big spider?”

“Why did you phrase your response as a question?” Mr. Mazzara deadpanned.

“It jumped on his face which is why he screamed,” Kourtney cut in. “Probably took a couple of his brain cells after it attacked which is why he apparently forgot how to speak.” She ignored the look of offense from Big Red as Mr. Mazzara closed his eyes, silently questioning his career choice. 

“We killed it though, and we put it in this beaker so we’d better take it outside and throw it out,” Gina added as she stuffed it in her backpack.

Mr. Mazzara looked at the teens suspiciously as they shuffled out of his classroom before running down the hall. He huffed in annoyance before walking towards his desk.

The school didn’t pay him enough to care about whatever the hell those kids were actually doing in his lab.

\---

Lynne was sitting in the lab mindlessly watching other scientists scramble around as Todd yelled at them. Ever since she went to visit Mike, she hasn’t been able to focus on anything. The thought of Harry using Ricky to get to Spider-Woman made her feel sick to her stomach.

She should’ve never left home.

Sure, she was making a lot of money now and she finally had her dream job. But was all of this madness really worth it?

She was broken out of her thoughts when Todd slammed a pile of papers in front of her. Ever since the green goblin came in and took over his plans, he’s been even more aggressive towards her. Lynne refused to point it out as much as she hated staying silent, knowing that he would kill her if she did.

Todd has gone completely haywire at this point. Spider-Woman was still out there and Norman was still breathing, mocking him for his failure. Everything he was trying to accomplish was falling apart right in front of his eyes. His next moves were completely unpredictable and that scared her. 

“This is a list of criminals who took the Venom serum,” Todd said harshly. “When the time comes, you’ll know what to do.”

Lynne didn’t say anything in response and he growled before walking away. She heard the elevator go off and looked up, dread settling in her stomach when she saw Harry come in.

But something didn’t feel right.

Before anyone could react, he pulled out a pumpkin bomb before throwing it towards the research equipment. Everyone screamed as it went off, sending people flying everywhere from the impact. Lynne screamed as she was thrown away by the blast, hitting the floor harshly. 

She groaned and looked up, trying not to throw up at the sight of dead scientists surrounding her. Others were screaming as they ran around trying to save any of their work and some even ran out of the building trying to get away. Lynne gasped when she saw Harry hovering over Todd, his foot placed on the older man’s neck to keep him from going anywhere.

“Harry Osborn is _dead_ ,” the green goblin hissed, “You should be happy, I did the dirty work for you.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Todd demanded. “This wasn’t part of our deal!”

“Change of plans,” the teen replied casually. 

Lynne screamed in horror as the green goblin stomped on Todd’s neck, snapping it in half. He let his head drop to the floor and Lynne tried not to throw up as Todd’s lifeless eyes stared up at her as blood seeped out of his mouth. She sobbed when the teen walked over to her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze.

“You can still be useful to me,” the green goblin mocked.

“You destroyed all of our research,” she whispered. “How are we supposed to give the government-”

“Fuck them,” he growled, cutting her off. “I’m going to kill Spider-Woman and all the people she loves before tearing this pathetic city to the ground.”

He looked over at the stack of papers Todd left for Lynne which were scattered all over her desk from the impact of the explosion and smirked, picking up one of the papers 

“So the idiot _did_ have a plan,” the green goblin snorted.

He walked back over to Lynne and she shivered at how green his eyes were as he faced her.

“I know he has someone distributing the Venom serum, who the hell is it?” he demanded.

“I-I don’t know,” Lynne replied shakily. “But Todd set up a meeting with them later today.”

She felt her heart stop when the green goblin grinned at her. “Perfect, they could be useful.”

He stood up, picking up the papers with the criminals’ information before dropping it in front of Lynne.

“When I tell you to, you’re going to activate the venom parasite and let these criminals loose around the city,” the green goblin demanded. “I know you figured out how so don’t even try lying to me.”

Lynne flinched back when he moved closer towards her. “Your son is still part of my plan, he and I have unfinished business. He and his little friends are going to lead me straight to Spider-Woman and I’m going to force her to _watch_ as I kill all of them and tear this city to shreds.”

She shook in fear and the green goblin smirked before standing up, moving towards Todd’s desk to see what he was working on.

“What happens after that?” Lynne asked shakily.

The teen stopped and turned around to face her with an evil glint in his eyes.

“World domination obviously, what else?”


	12. the deception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is exactly what Gina didn’t want to happen. She wanted to keep her friends out of this mess and now they were in danger because of her.
> 
> No matter how hard she tried, Gina couldn’t keep them safe, and that terrified her.
> 
> tw// mentions of abuse & violence

Ricky didn’t consider himself to be a paranoid person before he met Harry, but ever since what happened between them, he couldn’t help but be overly alert. He flinched when a student behind him slammed their locker shut with way more force than necessary.

He hated this. He hated Harry for making him feel like he had to act like this.

_This isn't over Bowen, I’m not done with you_

Knowing Harry, Ricky knew for a fact that wasn’t an empty threat and it terrified him. He looked up and smiled slightly when he saw Carlos down the hall. He moved to wave at the other teen, but Carlos saw him and quickly ran the other way.

Ricky frowned and put his hand down, huffing in frustration. Ever since Carlos and Gina blew up at each other again, both of them have been avoiding Ricky. He was caught in the middle of all of this and all he wanted was for things to go back to the way they used to be.

Ever since their Oscorp trip, things have only changed for the worst.

“Ricky?”

He turned around and was surprised to see EJ standing there with a shy smile on his face.

“Hey,” he replied quietly.

Ever since Ricky admitted the moment he and EJ shared in the theatre room meant something, the two boys have been shying away from each other. But despite this, it didn’t stop EJ from acting like a mother hen and making sure Ricky was okay.

Recently, it seemed like he was the only one who did care besides Ashlyn.

Carlos and Gina have been avoiding him, Kourtney and Big Red are with Gina all the time, Nini has been distracted and Seb has been completely focused on Carlos. He knows his friends care about him but when he needs them the most, they’re nowhere to be found. 

So Ricky was grateful for the senior’s presence, even if he didn’t show it all the time. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to eat lunch outside, no one is using the football field,” EJ offered.

“You do know we’re not allowed to do that right?” Ricky questioned.

“Well we won’t get in trouble if we don’t get caught,” EJ replied with a smirk.

Ricky knew the only reason the other teen was offering to do this was because Ricky wasn’t a huge fan of being in the cafeteria right now with everyone being so loud, and the theatre room is being used by the set design crew.

He planned this out for him, and that made Ricky’s heart flutter in his chest. 

“Fine,” Ricky caved. “But if we get caught I’m telling them you kidnapped me.”

EJ rolled his eyes playfully and threw an arm around the other teen’s shoulders, guiding him towards the entrance of the school. “Whatever makes this easier for you Bowen.”

Sneaking out to the football field was pretty easy since everyone was inside despite Ricky’s doubts. It was really nice outside and much to Ricky’s relief, quiet. He wasn’t even surprised when E.J. had sandwiches ready and teased the other teen when he also pulled out bags of fruits.

“Excuse me for wanting to be healthy,” EJ muttered with a blush on his face.

They sat in a peaceful silence while they ate and occasionally looked towards the school to make sure no teachers were coming out and would see them.

“Thank you for this,” Ricky said, breaking the silence.

“You don’t have to thank me,” EJ argued. “You deserve some peace and quiet with everything that’s happened.” Ricky gave him a sad smile and looked down, playing with some of the dandelions that were growing out of the ground. The other teen watched him with a concerned look on his face.

“How have you been holding up?” EJ asked seriously.

He went to say he was fine but the senior was giving him a look and he stopped himself. Ricky hated how easily the senior could read him.

“I haven’t been able to get what Harry said out of my head,” Ricky admitted. “I’m afraid of what he’ll do if he _does_ come back. I’ve never been this paranoid before and I hate it but I’ve seen how bad he can get. I just don’t want him to hurt anyone else because of me.”

EJ took the younger teen’s hands in his and looked him directly in the eye.

“Even if Harry does come back, you’re not responsible for his actions,” he assured. “I’m not going to let him hurt you, not again.”

Ricky pulled EJ into a hug and buried his face in his shoulder. EJ hugged him back and rested his chin on top of Ricky’s head. They stayed like that for a while and eventually pulled apart, blushing slightly when they realized how close they were. Ricky felt his face heat up when EJ reached out and brushed a curl out of his eyes, just like he did before in the theatre room.

“We have to stop ending up like this,” EJ teased, but he felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest.

Before Ricky knew what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed the other teen. EJ’s eyes went wide in surprise and Ricky quickly pulled away and his face turned an even darker shade of red. 

“Oh my god I don’t know why I did that-”

EJ kissed Ricky and cut him off, pulling the younger teen closer to him. Ricky didn’t hesitate before kissing him back, his heart racing faster when EJ rested his hand on his face. They eventually pulled apart and smiled at each other

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” EJ said breathlessly.

“Me too,” Ricky agreed with a shy smile.

He couldn’t remember the last time he was this happy, and he couldn’t be more grateful for EJ’s presence. Ricky found comfort in Gina and Carlos, but something about EJ was different.

He made Ricky feel things that he’s never experienced before.

“We don’t have to rush anything,” EJ assured. “After everything with Harry I don’t want to push you. We can go slow.”

Ricky gave him a grateful smile and leaned his head against the taller teen’s shoulder. Even if things were kind of scary right now, he was glad he had EJ.

“You know, for being the school’s acclaimed heartthrob, you’re not that good of a kisser,” Ricky teased.

EJ mocked offense and leaned away from the other teen. “Are you serious Bowen?” He nodded and squealed in surprise when EJ tackled him, laughing when the senior started kissing his face. They were too focused on each other to notice the figure watching them from afar.

It seemed like Ricky was right to be paranoid after all. 

\---

“Kourtney, how much longer is this going to take?”

“Hey, be patient! Perfection takes time!”

Gina huffed in frustration as Kourtney looked over her new suit one last time. Big Red was seated at Gina’s desk in her room typing away on his laptop. True to her word, Kourtney made a lot of improvements to Gina’s suit. She used a stronger fabric and made Gina’s mask more breathable. Of course, she couldn’t help but make the suit a little bit more fashionable while she was at it.

“Kourtney, I don’t think the criminals who are trying to kill me are going to care whether or not part of my suit is the right shade of pink,” Gina deadpanned. 

“They might not care, but _I_ will,” Kourtney argued. “Besides, if you happen to die during patrol, at least you’ll go out looking good.”

Gina rolled her eyes at her statement but let the other teen continue her last-minute inspection of her suit. This was the first time Gina was going on patrol with other people who actually knew about her secret. Big Red went out to get headsets so Gina would be able to talk to them when she’s out. For the past couple of days, the teens have made note of where the Vulture has been spotted due to eyewitnesses to determine where they most likely will be next. Big Red was currently finding out the most accurate locations.

“Alright, I think I’m done,” Kourtney announced, much to Gina’s relief. 

“Great, because I think I know where the Vulture could be tonight,” Big Red said, catching the attention of the other teens.

They walked over to him as he pulled up a map of Salt Lake City. “Whoever this person is, they have 4 common areas where they’ve been spotted. I’m going to assume these are meeting spots for where they give out the Venom serum.”

“Well that makes it easier for me,” Gina muttered as she put on her headset.

“Are you sure your mom won’t be home anytime soon?” Kourtney asked hesitantly.

Ever since her mom claimed she was “back home”, she’s barely been in the house. Gina sees her briefly in the morning before school but other than that, it’s like she lives alone. Again. She still hasn’t figured out why her spider-sense went off around her mom either, it made no sense. Gina told herself it was probably just because she hasn’t been around her mom with her powers a lot, but she knew it was something else.

But that wasn’t her biggest concern right now.

“No, and even if she was, it’s not like she would notice,” Gina replied.

She ignored the looks of sympathy from Big Red and Kourtney and got ready to leave.

“Don’t forget about the upgrades I made to your web-shooters,” Kourtney warned. “There might be a little kickback when you use them.”

Gina nodded and pulled her mask over her face before climbing out of her window. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and quickly shot a web at a nearby pole and started to swing.

“I can’t believe we’re helping Spider-Woman fight crime!” Big Red squealed, startling Gina. 

She was going to have to get used to hearing someone talk in her ear during patrol. 

“I forgot to ask, have you guys made any progress with the anti-venom?” she questioned as she approached the first location on Big Red’s map. 

“Sort of, I think we’re getting somewhere but everything we’ve come up with so far has only been temporary,” Kourtney replied.

Gina landed on top of a building and looked around, sighing in frustration when there was no sight of the Vulture or any criminals. 

“Well no one is here so that takes one location off the list, and I’m sure you guys will figure it out soon,” Gina said, swinging away.

She spent the next hour going to the other locations Big Red found, but the Vulture was nowhere to be seen. Gina was able to stop a mugging but other than that, the rest of the night was a failure.

“I’ll try looking again. Maybe I got it wrong?” Big Red questioned.

“Maybe, but we have to find them soon,” Gina replied. “We have no time to waste now.”

As she continued to swing home, she felt her spider-sense go off and immediately stopped, landing on the sidewalk and looking around. Gina furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when no danger was coming her way.

“Oh no,” Big Red whispered.

“Red? Kourt?” Gina asked worriedly. “What’s going on?” She started to panic when she heard a crash from her headset. Her spider-sense grew more intense when Kourtney started cursing under her breath and Big Red was full-on freaking out. 

“Oh _shit_ ,” Kourtney said, her voice wavering. “Someone's in the house.”

“This is _not_ how I wanted to die!” Big Red cried out.

“Red? Shut up,” Kourtney hissed, “We’re not going to die!” They both screamed when a louder crash was heard from downstairs. Gina’s heart dropped and she shot out a web, swinging as fast as she possibly could. 

“Guys don’t move I’m coming-”

She felt her spider-sense go off but it was too late. The Vulture came flying out of nowhere and crashed into Gina, sending her flying to the floor. Before she could get up the Vulture used their claws to pin her to the ground, causing Gina to cry out in pain.

“GINA?!” Big Red and Kourtney cried out.

Gina grunted in response and turned her face away when the Vulture leaned in close.

“I told you to stay _away_ ,” they hissed.

The vigilante started panicking when she noticed the Vulture had some new upgrades to their suit, but she refused to show her fear. 

“I don’t take orders from you,” Gina snapped. 

The Vulture growled and dug their claws deeper into Gina’s shoulder in retaliation. She bit her lip to prevent herself from crying out because of the pain. Gina’s spider-sense started going off again but for some reason, it felt familiar. She looked up at the Vulture and tried to see if she could make out a face behind their mask.

Why did they seem so familiar? 

“I should kill you,” the Vulture said dangerously.

“You could try,” Gina challenged.

She kicked up at the Vulture which sent them flying and got back on her feet. Gina shot out two webs to grab the Vulture by their wings and pulled, sending them flying to the ground. Before they could get up Gina pressed her foot against their chest hard to keep them pinned from the ground. 

“I know what you guys are planning to do with the Venom serum, and it’s not going to work,” Gina hissed.

“What? Are you going to stop us?” the Vulture taunted.

Gina grabbed the front of the Vulture’s suit and pulled them close. “You’re damn right I am.”

“You really don’t know who you’re up again, do you?” the Vulture questioned.

Before Gina could ask what they met, her spider-sense went off and she quickly jumped out of the way when a bomb was thrown at her from behind. The Vulture took this opportunity to get up and fly at Gina with full force. The vigilante wasn’t fast enough and she cried out in pain when the Vulture slammed her into the ground again. They dug their claws deeper into her already injured shoulder and Gina felt tears form in her eyes from the pain.

“You’re just an incompetent child,” the Vulture hissed. “I’m going to make _sure_ your death is a painful one.”

They talking stopped when someone from behind them signed in annoyance. Gina’s eyes went wide when Harry appeared from behind the Vulture with a bored expression on his face.

“We talked about this, no killing,” he criticized as if the Vulture was a small child.

He looked down at Gina and she shivered when he saw the green glow in his eyes. She had to keep reminding herself that even if she saw Harry’s face, it was the green goblin talking to her. He was probably the one who threw the bomb to get her off of the Vulture.

“Hello Spider-Woman,” he greeted casually. “Fancy seeing you here.”

He walked over to her and bent down, looking at her wounds with mock sympathy. She yelled out in surprise when he pressed down on her injured shoulder with his hand, her blood covering it when he pulled away.

“I think that’s enough for today,” he concluded. “You can let her go now.” The Vulture reluctantly pulled their claws away and Gina immediately scrambled to get up, wincing from the pain of her injuries.

“Well this has been fun, but we’ve got places to go,” the green goblin said with an evil smile. “I do hope I’ll see you again soon.” He turned around to walk towards the Vulture but stopped when he heard Gina call out to him.

“I know you’re not Harry right now,” she accused. “What the hell did you do to him?”

The green goblin laughed and took a hold of the Vulture’s arm as he turned to face Gina again.

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s as good as dead."

He waved mockingly as the Vulture took off with him in tow. As much as Gina wanted to follow them, Big Red and Kourtney were in trouble and she had to move. She swung back to her house in urgency and felt her heart drop when she saw a huge hole in the front door on her house. She quickly ran inside and her jaw dropped at what she saw.

All of the furniture was all over the place and there was glass scattered throughout the house from the window in the kitchen. It looked as if a tornado came through the house and tore everything apart. 

“Kourtney? Big Red?” Gina called out, ripping off her mask.

She sighed in relief when they popped up from behind her kitchen counter. Kourtney was holding a lamp while Big Red had a broom.

“Oh thank god,” Kourtney cried, dropping the lamp and running over to Gina to pull her into a hug.

Big Red did the same and Gina held on to them tightly.

“What the hell happened?” the vigilante asked.

“We don’t know,” Big Red replied. “We heard a bunch of noise downstairs and went to check it out, but by the time we did whoever did this was gone.”

“We didn’t know if they would be back so we hid behind the kitchen counter just in case,” Kourtney added.

“With a lamp and a broom to defend yourselves?” Gina deadpanned.

“At least we grabbed something!” Big Red defended.

Gina rolled her eyes playfully but was silently relived her friends weren’t hurt.

“This obviously has to do with Spider-Woman, but whoever did this has to know who I am,” Gina said as her concern grew.

“So Harry? Well, the green goblin?” Big Red questioned.

“No, he was with the Vulture when they attacked me,” Gina replied.

“WHAT?!” Kourtney and Big Red yelled.

Gina winced from their loud tones and tried to assure them she was fine but they ignored her and ushered her into her room. Big Red pulled out the first aid kit as Kourtney made Gina sit down on her bed.

“What happened?” Kourtney demanded as Big Red checked over Gina’s injuries.

“The Vulture pinned me down and I thought they were going to kill me, but the green goblin came out and told them not to,” Gina explained. “He pressed down on my shoulder injury and when I tried asking him about Harry, he just said he was dead and left.”

“Well the green goblin is a parasite on Harry’s body just like the Venom serum,” Big Red concluded. “Maybe the parasite won.”

Kourtney stood up and started pacing around the room as she tried to process what Gina said. Big Red wrapped up her shoulder even after she insisted it would heal on its own and treated her smaller wounds as well. 

“That doesn’t make any sense, why would they just attack you and leave out nowhere?” Kourtney muttered.

“I don’t know, but right now my biggest concern is someone else might know who I am and they possibly might know you guys are in on the secret,” Gina said.

Her spider-sense was so intense that it felt like her head was going to explode. This is _exactly_ what Gina didn’t want to happen. She wanted to keep her friends out of this mess and now they were in danger because of her.

No matter how hard she tried, Gina couldn’t keep them safe, and that terrified her.

“Maybe they left something in the mess that they made,” Big Red suggested as he put the first aid kit away.

“It doesn’t hurt to look,” Kourtney agreed.

The teens went back downstairs and looked around, trying to find something that could give them a clue. Kourtney was looking around the kitchen and saw something under a pile of glass shards and picked it up. It was an envelope and she opened it up, her face going pale when she saw what was inside. 

“Guys?” she called out urgently.

Big Red and Gina ran over and Kourtney emptied the contents of the envelope onto the kitchen counter.

It was filled with photos of _them_.

A photo of Nini sitting in her bedroom, a photo of Carlos and Seb in class, a photo of Ashlyn at the supermarket, a photo of Gina, Big Red, and Kourtney at the coffee shop, a photo of Ricky and E.J. in the football field, and a lot more. Gina felt sick when she picked up a photo of Nini and herself walking out of school with big smiles on their faces. It was taken on the day of the sleepover and Nini couldn’t stop talking about how excited she was. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement and Gina couldn’t help but admire how cute Nini was.

The fact that someone was willing to hurt someone as kind and loving as Nini just to get to Gina was unfathomable to the teen.

“What the fuck,” Big Red whispered in horror.

Kourtney turned one of the photos around and gasped when she saw the Oscorp logo on the back. She flipped over another photo and saw that it had a letter on it. The teens quickly started flipping all the photos over and rearranging them to figure out the message. They finally did and stepped back to look at it as their fear only grew.

**_We’re always watching you. No one is safe._**

“Oscorp. Of _course_ it’s Oscorp,” Gina hissed. “Harry was the only person who knew my secret which means the green goblin knows too. He probably sent a bunch of goons here to do this.” She didn’t care about the fact they knew where she lived, she was more concerned that they _knew_ Kourtney and Big Red were here. They’ve been watching her and her friends for who knows how long and the fact that even her spider-sense didn’t pick up on this made her nervous.

Oscorp was not a force to be messed with.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Big Red said quietly.

“We have to stop them, _now_ ,” Kourtney concluded.

It was one thing to threaten her, but threatening her friends? Gina wanted to strangle the green goblin. Fuck being cautious, if she needed to march straight into Oscorp and fight them directly, she would.

Oscorp isn’t going to win. Gina refused to let that happen.

\---

“Nini, as much as I love you, there’s no way in _hell_ you’re sane right now.”

After Nini texted Carlos about Gina, he asked her to come over and talk about what she figured out. As of five minutes ago, he was regretting that decision. 

Nini flung her arms up in the air in frustration. “Carlos, I’m telling you I’m perfectly sane right now and I know for a fact I’m right.” Carlos ran his hands over his face as Nini looked at him expectantly.

“So you really want me to believe that somehow, Gina and Spider-Woman are the same people?” he asked in disbelief.

As distant as Gina has been lately, there was no way in _hell_ that was the reason why.

“Just think about it Carlos,” Nini replied. “She quit the show, she’s been pushing away from everyone and all of a sudden she’s too busy to do anything else?”

“That doesn’t prove anything Nini,” Carlos argued. “All of that could easily be because of what she’s dealing with at home right now.” Nini wanted to scream. Ever since she put this thought in her head she couldn’t stop thinking about it, and it made sense. Especially after what happened between her and Spider-Woman in her bedroom.

But for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Carlos about that exchange. It would get him to believe her, but something was telling her to keep it to herself.

“I don’t know,” she sighed, flopping onto his bed. “I guess my brain is just coming up with crazy ideas.”

If Carlos won’t listen to her, Nini had to confront Gina herself. She didn’t even know where to start _that_ conversation. 

“Hey, how are you doing? You look nice today! By the way, I know you’re Spider-Woman!”

Nini groaned and ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Figuring out her feeling for Gina was already complicated enough, but now there was a possibility her crush was a superhero?

Wow, Nini never thought _that_ would be an issue concerning her feelings.

But despite that, Nini felt an obligation to talk to Gina about this. She had a feeling she definitely wasn’t wrong, but if she was, she would probably die of embarrassment. Carlos went to say something but was cut off by the sound of their phones going off. They checked and saw someone was texting in the theatre group chat.

**mazzara’s whores**

**rico: GUYS**

**rico: TURN ON THE NEWS**

**rico: LIKE RIGHT FUCKING NOW**

Carlos and Nini looked at each other in confusion but shrugged and Carlos turned on his TV and went to the news station. They were both surprised to see Harry Osborn on-screen with a sad look on his face. 

“Well look who’s back,” Carlos said with fake excitement.

After EJ, Ashlyn, and Ricky told them what went down with Harry, Nini didn’t think the next time they would be seeing him would be on the news. Ricky still hasn’t told his dad what happened so in his and everyone else’s eyes, Harry Osborn was still America’s golden boy.

She couldn’t help but worry about how Ricky was dealing with this or what was going through his mind.

“Do you think Ricky knows?” Nini asked in concern.

His expression dropped when he realized but turned his attention towards the TV when Harry started to speak.

“I stand here with a heavy heart to deliver the news that Todd Wilkins has passed away,” Harry announced.

The teens were shocked to hear this and watched as the press around Harry started yelling out questions. Todd just recently became the CEO of Oscorp and now he’s gone?

“This does mean I’m now the CEO of the company since my father is too unwell to take up the title himself,” Harry continued. “But as my first act of the CEO of Oscorp, I will diligently be tracking down Todd’s killer. We believe he’s been murdered.”

Nini felt her head spin at his words as Carlos started freaking about beside her and texting the group chat. Her eyes went wide when Ricky’s mom came onscreen and whispered something in Harry’s ear and giving him a piece of paper. She couldn’t help but notice how drained Ricky’s mom looked as well. Harry read over the paper and Nini felt her heart race when his expression turned dark. He looked back up at the press and she could've sworn she saw a green tint in Harry’s eyes as he spoke.

“My team has finished analyzing the crime scene, and they’ve come to the conclusion that Spider-Woman is responsible for Todd’s death,” Harry announced. “Her blood sample was found mixed in with his.”

He held up the report and the press went nuts as they yelled out even more questions. Carlos was saying something to her, but Nini couldn’t hear anything over the sound of her heart beating.

Spider-Woman? _Gina?_ A killer? There was no way. Harry had to be lying.

“The group chat is going insane,” Carlos said, finally breaking Nini out of her thoughts.

She looked at the chat from his phone and felt sick at what she was seeing.

**kaden: spider-woman? a killer??? I dont believe it**

**ashlyn: but her blood was found at the scene of the crime,,,,**

**bianca: & oscorp did warn us about her**

**bianca: the daily bugle too**

**kourtney: the daily bugle isnt reliable**

**kourtney: spider-woman has done nothing but protect this city**

**ej: I refuse to believe it**

**ej: theres no way**

**big red: oscorp is a sketchy company, I wouldnt be surprised if they made this up**

**big red: spider-woman wouldnt kill someone**

**big red: shes a hero**

**rico: she saved my life, I know she’s not a killer**

**seb: shes saved so many lives and shes made slc safer, I still thinks shes a good person**

**bianca: dont judge a book by its cover**

**ricky: harry has lied before**

**ricky: hes probably lying now**

**bianca: just bc u had a bad breakup doesnt mean hes lying**

**bianca: get over urself & look at the facts **

**big red: wtf?????**

**ashlyn: what the hell is wrong with u**

**ashlyn: it wasnt just a “bad breakup”**

**\- ricky has left the chat -**

**seb: ricky :(**

**ej: ill talk to him**

**ej: & bianca? fuck u.**

**bianca: i was just saying the truth**

“Bianca knows damn well what happened!” Nini snapped.

“You know how she gets,” Carlos defended.

“That doesn’t make what she said right,” Nini argued.

He sighed and nodded in agreement, texting something in the chat. Nini noticed Gina didn’t say anything in the chat which just confirmed her suspicions. But she refused to believe what Harry said was true.

Nini knew Gina, and she was far from a killer.

She hesitated before pulling out her phone to send Gina a quick text.

**nini: hey**

**nini: I hope everything is okay <3**

Nini was surprised at how quickly Gina responded.

**gina: <3**

She smiled slightly but frowned when Carlos nudged her and pointed towards the TV. She sent a quick text to Ricky to check up on him before looking back at the news.

“Spider-Woman has been charged with manslaughter and is now a wanted criminal,” Harry announced. “We won’t stop until we find her and bring her in.” Nini felt chills go up her spine when Harry looked directly at the camera. It felt like he was staring into her soul.

“Spider-Woman, if you’re watching this, I _promise_ you I will not stop until I find you. There’s nowhere for you to run and hide. You will face the punishment you deserve and I will make sure of it, even if it’s the last thing I do.”


	13. the parasite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina made a commitment that night she saved Rico in the alley, and as angry as she was, she couldn’t risk putting her friends in danger. 
> 
> No matter how much she kicked and screamed, Gina was the only one who could save everyone.

“I can’t believe Spider-Woman is a killer.”

“I hope the cops catch her soon.”

“Why do you think she killed him?”

“Probably because he knew the truth about what kind of person she truly is.”

“Has she really been the bad guy this whole time?”

Gina _really_ hated having enhanced senses, especially now. Ever since Harry framed her for a crime she didn’t commit, it’s all anyone has been talking about for the past couple of days. When he pulled out the forensic report, Gina felt like her entire world came crashing down. She figured that’s why he left her blood on his hand before he took off with the Vulture. She felt stupid for not figuring it out earlier, but she never predicted Harry would take it this far.

He was doing everything he could to prevent her from getting in the way of his plan.

Now every time she goes on patrol, the police are always hiding somewhere to try and catch her. The people she tries to help don’t want it because they assume she’s a criminal, and others have even started throwing things at her when she swings around the city.

All of this negativity did not help Gina’s insecurities concerning Spider-Woman, and the fact that she let the Vulture get away again made her even more frustrated. Oscorp was watching her and her friends, the police were after her, and Harry was leading them both.

The entire _world_ is against her. 

She walked towards her locker and slammed it open with more force than necessary, pretending not to notice how startled students around her became from the noise. Kourtney and Big Red hesitantly approached her with concerned expressions on their faces. 

“I would ask how you’re holding up, but I know that’s a pretty stupid question,” Big Red admitted sheepishly. 

“Don’t listen to what anyone is saying, they don’t know what they’re talking about,” Kourtney assured. 

“You’re not the bad guy Gina, people are just being stupid,” Big Red added.

They both flinched when Gina slammed her locker shut with even more force than before. They tried not to let their nervousness show when they saw how angry she looked.

“No one even _hesitated_ to make me the bad guy,” she hissed. “Not one person has defended me. So what? I protect this damn city with everything I have and no one even stops to consider that this could all be a lie?” Outside of her friends, every single person has done nothing but criticize Spider-Woman. Even after everything Gina has gone through, no one wants to give her the benefit of the doubt.

And that hurts.

“Gi,” Kourtney tried to say, but the vigilante wasn’t done.

“I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t _want_ that stupid spider to bite me and I didn’t _want_ these powers. I’m a sophomore in high school for fucks sake! I just turned 16! I should be worrying about what colleges I want to apply for next year and the musical, not about what criminal is going to try and kill me next!” Gina snapped.

Her friends looked shocked as she tried to calm herself down. The hallway had cleared out a while ago so they were alone, even though they should be in class by now. Gina should’ve looked around to make sure no one could hear what she was saying, but she was too angry to care.

All of the anger she’s been feeling was coming out and she couldn’t stop it.

“I gave up the musical, the one thing that made me feel like I belong! I’ve done nothing but fight with Carlos who’s supposed to be my best friend and Ricky, because of _me_ , got mixed up with Harry. My mom is basically nonexistent, all of you guys are in danger, once again, because of me and I don’t know what to do. Ever since the spider bite happened, my life has fallen apart!” Gina said harshly as tears formed in her eyes. 

“Gina,” Big Red tried to comfort, but the other teen ignored him.

“Why the hell should I keep fighting for people who don’t even want me around?” she asked quietly. 

The other teens stayed silent as they processed Gina’s words. As much as they wanted to try and understand what she was going through, they couldn’t. The only thing they could do was be there to listen and support Gina in any way they could.

Big Red walked up to Gina and placed his hands on her shoulders. “We want you around Gina, we _need_ you around. I know things are shitty right now, but if you stop fighting, everyone is doomed.”

Gina wanted to yell and tell him he was wrong. That this was too much pressure to put on a teenager and she shouldn’t have to be dealing with this. 

And it was.

But Gina made a commitment that night she saved Rico in the alley, and as angry as she was, she couldn’t risk putting her friends in danger. No matter how much she kicked and screamed, Gina was the only one who could save everyone.

But that still frustrated her to no end. 

She shrugged out of Big Red’s grip as the late bell rang. “I need some space.”

Her friends called after her but Gina ignored them and made her way to class. Her English teacher scolded her for being late but Gina tuned her out and sat down before burying her head in her arms. 

She needed to be alone right now.

\---

“Carlos, don’t you think this might be a little extreme?”

“Absolutely not.”

Seb huffed in frustration as his boyfriend continued to ignore him and make his way towards Bianca’s locker. After the way she acted towards Ricky in the group chat last night, E.J. texted him and said Ricky was staying home to take a mental health day and he was going to be with him to make sure the younger teen wouldn’t be alone. Carlos figured it was because of what Bianca said, and that made his blood boil. He felt slightly guilty for attempting to defend Bianca when Nini called her out, but he never expected her to do something this bad.

As blunt as Bianca could be, this was very out of character for her.

“We have to get to class, and starting a fight right now is not a good idea,” Seb tried to reason, but Carlos still didn’t listen.

They reached her locker and she was talking to Rico and Kaden who both looked frustrated with the other teen. 

“Bianca, what’s going on with you?” Rico asked in concern.

“I’m _fine_ ,” she snapped. “Just fuck off already my god.”

“Obviously you’re not fine,” Carlos argued, cutting in.

Seb felt dread settle over him when he saw how angry Bianca looked. She slammed her locker shut and stood in front of Carlos threateningly. “Excuse me?”

“The group chat last night? What you said to Ricky? That was out of line,” he snapped.

Bianca rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Are you seriously still hung up on that? It’s not like I lied.”

“Except you did.”

The teens turned around and saw Ashlyn standing there with an angry expression on her face. All the students in the hallway were slowly starting to stop walking as they took in the scene in front of them.

“You know exactly how bad that relationship ended. Ricky trusted us enough to tell the full story and you’re really reducing it to a ‘bad breakup’?” Ashlyn asked incredulously. 

“All of you are being over dramatic for nothing, just let it go!” Bianca said harshly.

Seb noticed how worked up she was getting, but he frowned when he realized how pale she looked. As they continued to fight, Bianca only grew paler and she started shaking. Students surrounded them as the commotion became louder and Bianca only started to look worse as the fight continued.

“Guys,” Seb tried to warn, but the teens didn’t listen.

“You need to apologize to Ricky,” Ashlyn demanded.

“I’m not going to apologize for something I don’t regret saying,” Bianca hissed.

“Why are you acting like such a bitch?!” Carlos snapped, surprising the other teens. 

“What did you just call me?”

“Did I stutter?”

“ _Apologize_.”

“Oh my god just shut up-”

“ _GUYS_!”

Everyone looked at Seb in surprise as he yelled. He turned towards Bianca who started to sway where she stood and she looked completely out of it.

“Bianca? Are you okay?” Seb asked hesitantly. 

She glared at him with all of the energy she could muster. “Fuck _off_.”

That was the last thing Bianca said before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out. Everyone started to freak out and Seb quickly bent down to make sure Bianca didn’t hit her head, yelling for someone to get a teacher. Kaden and Rico also bent down to look over her, yelling at the other students to stay back and give her some space. Seb started to panic even more when she started twitching and foaming at the mouth, and he swore her veins were turning green. Carlos and Ashlyn looked down at Bianca in shock when they saw how bad she looked.

What the _fuck_ just happened?

\---

Nini didn’t even know where to begin. She’s been trying to find Gina and talk to her all day, but it’s like the other girl doesn’t want to be found. After hearing that Bianca passed out, students were in a frenzy which made it even harder to track down Gina. But Nini can’t help but feel relieved because it gave her more time to think.

Where do you even start a conversation like this?

“Hey, I know you’re a superhero!”

“So, Spider-Woman, that’s you right?”

“I know you’re the one who saved me that one time so, thank you!”

She groaned and ran her hands through her hair in frustration as she made her way towards the cafeteria. As much as she wanted to believe she knew what she was talking about, Nini couldn’t help but be paranoid that Carlos was right. In that case, she would be extremely embarrassed.

But she still had to try.

As Nini was about to enter the cafeteria, she noticed Kourtney and Big Red running towards Mr. Mazzara’s room. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion when she noticed how frantic they looked.

They _have_ been hanging out with Gina a lot more recently. Nini couldn’t even remember the last time she hung out with Kourtney outside of rehearsal since the other teen always said she had schoolwork. Big Red said he was busy with something for robotics and needed to be alone so he could focus, so why would he be with Kourtney?

Nini eventually let curiosity get the best of her and texted Ashlyn to let her know she wouldn’t be at lunch before moving towards Mr. Mazzara’s classroom. She opened the door as quietly as she could and peaked it, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion when she saw Big Red and Kourtney hovering over something.

“It’s still not working,” Kourtney huffed in frustration.

Big Red groaned and threw his head back. “This is like the 100th attempt!”

“You’re being over dramatic,” Kourtney deadpanned. “Maybe we didn’t analyze the venom properly?”

“I don’t know, but if we don’t figure this out soon, we’re all doomed,” Big Red whined.

Kourtney sighed and moved away, giving Nini a view of what they were looking at. Her eyes went wide when she saw a black liquid sitting on a petri dish, but it looked like it was moving on its own.

Either Nini was going insane, or this _definitely_ had something to do with Spider-Woman.

“I can’t stop thinking about what Gina said,” Kourtney sighed, catching Nini’s attention.

“I know, I don’t even know what to say to her to be honest,” Big Red replied. “It’s not like we can relate.”

“But we can try to be there for her, she needs a support system and that’s us right now,” Kourtney said.

Big Red nodded and leaned back in his seat. “Being a superhero doesn’t come without pressure.”

They sat in silence for a moment and Big Red took the time to use the microscope again.

“Is it bad that I’m scared?” Kourtney asked quietly, catching his attention. “I know Gina warned us about this, but seeing those pictures of all of us made me want to vomit.”

“It’s not bad Kourt, it is scary. Oscorp isn’t someone you mess with and now we’re on their radar,” Big Red assured with a grimace, “They’re not going to stop until they get what the want. And right now? That’s Spider-Woman’s downfall.”

Holy shit. Nini was right. She was _right_.

Gina is Spider-Woman. Spider-Woman is Gina. They’re the same person.

But Oscorp? They were watching everyone because of this? The thought made Nini sick to her stomach. She wanted to storm in the classroom ask Kourtney and Big Red for details, but she really needed to talk to Gina first. Nini slowly closed the door and backed away, yelping when she bumped into someone and quickly turned around. Her heart dropped when she saw it was Gina, and she couldn’t help but feel nervous, especially because of how angry the other girl looked.

This is _not_ how Nini wanted this to go.

\---

Gina didn’t think today could get any worse, but she was proven wrong. She wanted to talk to Kourtney and Big Red and apologize for snapping at them this morning, but what she didn’t expect to see was Nini eavesdropping on their conversation.

She dragged Nini into Mr. Mazzara’s classroom before the other girl could say anything and slammed the door behind them, surprising the other teens.

“Nini? What are you doing here?” Kourtney asked, quickly standing in front of the venom sample.

“She was spying,” Gina replied, glaring at Nini.

The other girl didn’t try and oppose and the teens started to freak out but tried not to show it on their faces.

This was _not_ good.

“What?” Big Red questioned nervously. “It’s not like we were doing anything worth sneaking around over.” Kourtney smacked him over the head for being so obvious, but Nini didn’t look phased by their reactions which made Gina even more frustrated.

Why wasn’t she saying anything?

“Big Red was just helping me with my chemistry homework and Gina was coming to join us,” Kourtney lied with a smile.

“Does your chemistry homework have to do with a black liquid that can move by itself?”

The teens froze at Nini’s words as she looked at them expectantly. Big Red laughed awkwardly to try and ease the tension but it only made it worse. Kourtney looked like she was ready to pass out and Gina couldn’t help but feel angry.

“Why were you sneaking around in the first place?” she demanded.

“Because you guys have been acting suspicious lately, especially you Gina!” Nini replied. “Carlos shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, but he wasn’t wrong either! You’ve been lying and I know why.”

“Nini,” Kourtney warned, but the other girl refused to back down.

Gina’s spider-sense was going haywire. She knew what Nini was referring to, but she had to hear the words for herself. She walked up to the other teen and narrowed her eyes. “Then say it. Say why.”

Nini gulped nervously but held her head up high. The room was deathly silent as the other teens waited for her response. Gina clenched her fists tightly as Nini looked her directly in the eye.

“You’re Spider-Woman.”

Gina felt like she was going to throw up. Kourtney and Big Red tried to oppose what Nini said, but she ignored them and kept staring at Gina, waiting for her to say something.

If only she knew _what_ to say.

Kourtney and Big Red knowing her secret identity was enough, but now Nini? Gina was still trying to figure out her feelings towards the other girl, but it was hard to do that when a new criminal was trying to kill her every week. But she _knew_ her feelings towards Nini went beyond friendship. Her knowing put her in even more danger, especially if Harry somehow found about this. Gina just wanted to keep her friends safe and for all of this to end, but no matter how hard she tried, things just kept getting worse.

That’s Porter luck for you.

“Well?” Nini asked, breaking Gina out of her thoughts.

“Well nothing, you need to leave,” the vigilante snapped.

She ignored the looks of shock from Big Red and Kourtney as Nini’s face was overcome with a frustrated expression. The farther away Nini was from all of this, the better. Ricky was already on Harry’s radar, she didn’t need him going after Nini too.

“So I’m right?” Nini questioned.

“I said you need to _leave_ ,” Gina hissed.

“No,” the shorter teen argued. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

“Whatever is going on isn’t any of your business!” Gina snapped, surprising Nini with her harsh tone. “Congratulations! You invaded my privacy and found out a secret that I’ve been working extremely hard to keep! I hope you’re happy.”

“Are you kidding me?” Nini questioned incredulously. “Kourtney and Big Red figured it out to, didn’t they? What’s the difference between me and them?”

“The more people that know puts me and everyone I know and love at risk!” Gina hissed. “This isn’t a game Nini, do you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into?”

“From what I heard, I was already in danger,” Nini shot back. “What’s the difference between then and now?”

Gina wanted to bash her head against a wall. “The difference is you know who I am. I can’t protect you all the time Nini. If a criminal catches you and finds out you know the truth? I don’t even want to think about what could happen.”

“I don’t need to be protected,” Nini snapped.

“You sure did when the green goblin grabbed you and dropped you from the fucking _SKY_!” Gina yelled.

Nini flinched and Gina felt guilty for bringing up that incident, but she had a point to prove. “If we tell you anything else, the green goblin can do a lot worse than that. So all I’m asking is for you to just keep this to yourself. I don’t need any more people at risk.” The room went silent as the teens waited for an answer. Tears formed in Nini’s eyes but she nodded and Gina sighed in relief. Kourtney’s phone went off and she cursed, silently apologizing as she checked her notifications. Her eyes went wide at what she saw, looking up and the other teens.

“Bianca is still in the nurses’ office,” she said, surprising her friends. “Ashlyn just texted me. She said there are some complications at the hospital and they’re getting a lot of patients with the same symptoms.”

“What?” Big Red asked in confusion.

“How is that possible?” Gina questioned.

They froze and looked at the Venom sample while Nini remained lost. Gina cursed under her breath and walked towards the door.

Of _course_ , Oscorp had something to do with this.

“Where are you going?” Big Red asked.

“To go see Bianca, maybe I can get some clues,” Gina replied as she opened the door.

She looked back at Nini who still looked upset and Gina tried to push down her guilt. “Seriously Nini, just leave.”

With that Gina left and made her way towards the nurses’ office, her heart heavy with both anger and sadness.

She could never catch a break, could she?

\---

Big Red and Kourtney didn’t know what to say. Nini still stood in the middle of the room silently as tears rolled down her face. They knew Gina was trying to push Nini away to keep her safe, but they were beginning to think that wasn’t the best move. Big Red got up to attempt and comfort Nini while Kourtney decided to check on the Venom sample. She immediately started to panic when she saw the petri dish it was in was empty.

“Oh no,” Kourtney muttered, catching the attention of the other teens.

“What’s wrong?” Nini asked quietly.

Big Red noticed the petri dish was empty and froze. “The Venom sample is gone??? What the hell??”

They quickly searched around the room to try and find it, panicking even more when it was nowhere in the classroom.

“How did we even lose it?” Big Red whined, looking under the tables again.

“It moves on its own, but I never thought this would or even _could_ actually happen,” Kourtney replied frantically.

Nini paused when she heard shuffling come from Mr. Mazzara’s closet. She opened the door and gasped, catching the attention of the teens who ran over to her. The teens froze at the sight. Mr. Mazzara had recently got a frog and decided to keep it as a class pet and offered extra credit for any student who helped to take care of it. That said frog was now in the closet, fighting with the Venom serum.

“What the fuck,” Nini whispered. 

The tank the frog was in fell to the floor and glass flew everywhere as the frog continued to struggle with the Venom serum. The teens watched in horror as the serum latched onto the frog, encasing it. The frog was now completely black with white eyes, and it stared up at the teens. The frog opened its mouth and Big Red noticed it now had sharp teeth and that its tongue resembled one of a snake.

“Well, um, I didn’t know the sample could do _that_ ,” Kourtney laughed nervously.

The teens screamed when the frog hissed and launched at them. Nini quickly slammed the door and locked it, pressing her back against it. She was shocked when the frog continued to hit the door and started to growl.

“What the fuck was that?!?” Nini demanded.

Big Red ran his hands through his hair and flinched when the frog started hitting the door with more force. “I have no idea, but a frog is _not_ supposed to be that strong.”

Kourtney stayed quiet as the other teens continued to bicker and tried to figure out what happened. She looked back at the notes she took white observing the sample and felt dread settle in her stomach when she figured it out.

“The Venom parasite doesn't just lay dormant in the host's body, it takes over it,” she said slowly.

“No way,” Big Red argued.

“There’s a frog with the strength of a superhuman trying to _kill us_!” Nini snapped. “I think that’s enough proof!”

“It’s like we said Big Red, the Venom serum is a parasite. It entered the bodies of those criminals as a liquid, but it never left their systems. But we didn't consider if it had another form or not,” Kourtney explained.

“So you’re saying that if we don’t do something about this, they’re going to end up like that?” Big Red questioned, pointing towards the closet.

Kourtney nodded fearfully and the teens felt even more terrified than before. The frog started to hit the door harder to the point where Big Red and Kourtney had to help Nini hold the door back, trying to figure out a plan.

“Wait, what did Gina say about those criminals who died after taking the serum?” Big Red asked as a thought occurred to him.

“They went batshit crazy,” Kourtney deadpanned. “They were acting out and they looked sick before they died. Green veins, twitching, foaming at the mouth.”

Nini’s eyes went wide in fear when she realized what Big Red was implying. “Bianca started twitching and foaming at the mouth after she passed out. And before that, she was in a really heated argument with Carlos and Ashlyn. Plus she _did_ snap at Ricky in the group chat out of nowhere.” Her friends froze and looked at her in disbelief.

“So all those people in the hospital,” Big Red trailed off.

“How would they have been exposed? The only people taking the Venom serum were criminals!” Kourtney exclaimed.

“But they have families, right? People that visit them in prison?” Nini asked.

“And the police officers who have been around them,” Big Red added. “With how much of the Venom serum those criminals injected themselves with, there’s plenty of parasites to go around.”

“Bianca’s dad is a police officer, isn’t he?” Kourtney questioned quietly.

Well shit.

The teens flinched when the frog became even more frantic, screaming when part of the door broke from the force of it. Big Red held the door and Kourtney and Nini ran towards Mr. Mazzara’s desk and pushed it to hold the door closed.

“Wait, if Bianca has the Venom parasite, she’s going to end up just like that frog,” Kourtney said worriedly.

“Gina,” Big Red whispered in horror, “Oh my god _Gina_.”

Nini didn’t hesitate before running towards the door. She looked back at the other teens with a determined expression on her face.

“You guys need to figure out a way to fix that frog and as soon as you do, come to the nurses’ office as quickly as possible,” she said.

“Nini, do you know what danger you’re putting yourself in right now?” Big Red asked. “We can barely handle a _frog_ with a parasite. Imagine how dangerous Bianca could be with it!”

“Gina may be Spider-Woman, but right now she’s in danger. I can’t sit back and let something bad happen to her,” Nini argued.

Before the teens could protest, Nini was out the door and running towards the nurses’ office as fast as her legs could carry her.

\---

Gina frowned when she noticed Bianca was alone in the nurses’ office, but it made it easier for her in the long run. She walked up to where the other girl was laying down, frowning when she saw how pale Bianca looked. 

If Gina hasn’t known any better, she would’ve assumed the other girl was dead.

She sighed and went to reach out for Bianca’s hand, flinching back when her spider-sense _screamed_ in her ears. Gina cried out and fell to her knees as it got worse, clutching her head tightly. She heard the door slam open but couldn’t see who it was and immediately moved away when she felt the person put their hands on top of hers. 

“Gina, just trust me this once. _P_ _lease_.”

She could barely hear or see anything because of how intense her spider-sense was, but Gina recognized the person’s voice and didn’t move away when they touched her. The person pulled them into a hug and held them tightly, trying to shield Gina away from everything around her. Her spider-sense eventually lowered down to a low hum and she sighed in relief, blushing in embarrassment when she saw the person was Nini. 

“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly. 

“Shouldn’t you be hating me right now?” Gina countered.

Nini rolled her eyes and stood up, holding out her hand to help the other girl up.

“I don’t think I could ever hate you,” she replied honestly.

Gina froze at her response as Nini blushed, looking away. Even if she didn’t show it, Gina was extremely relieved at the other girl’s words.

She doesn’t think she could live in a world where Nini really does hate her,

“I still think you should stay away,” Gina said.

“Well I’m not going anywhere, especially not after what happened in Mr. Mazzara’s room,” Nini argued. 

Gina both loved and hated how stubborn the other girl was. If this is how Nini was going to act, Gina just had to accept it at this rate. But she was still determined to keep Nini in the dark if anything new came up.

The less she knew, the better.

“What happened in Mr. Mazzara’s room?” Gina asked curiously.

Before Nini could respond, Gina’s spider-sense went off and she turned towards Bianca, her eyes going wide in shock when the other girl started convulsing. Gina quickly pushed Nini behind her and watched in horror as a black liquid, similar to the Venom sample they had, came pouring out of Bianca’s mouth and covering her body. Nini clutched the back of Gina’s shirt tightly as she started to shake in fear.

“ _That’s_ what happened.”

When Bianca was completely covered she stood up, facing the teens with a menacing grin. Gina couldn’t help but notice that if her suit was black and didn’t have a hood, that’s exactly what Bianca looked like right now. Her body was completely black and her hands had sharp claws at the end. Her eyes were white and narrowed and she had extremely sharp teeth. The teens flinched when Bianca growled, a snake-like tongue peaking out of her mouth. 

As far as Gina was concerned, the thing standing in front of them was _not_ Bianca. 

“Holy shit,” Gina whispered.

That was the last thing she said before Bianca launched herself towards them, her claws out in front of her as she growled menacingly. 


	14. the cure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was no way in hell Nini was leaving Gina alone. She didn’t have any powers, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help.

Gina grabbed Nini and pulled her away as Bianca swiped her claws towards them. She growled menacingly and launched herself at them again at a faster speed than before. Gina shoved Nini out of the way as Bianca tackled her. This was the first time she had to fight without her suit and web-shooters. She didn’t have any real protection other than herself and she couldn’t help but panic. 

But she was the only person who could hold Bianca back, suit or not. Everyone was still in school and if Bianca were to get out, it wouldn’t be pretty. Gina just had to hold her off until Big Red and Kourtney figured out the antidote. She was hoping they would figure it out sooner rather than later.

Gina was strong, but the Venom was stronger. 

Nini moved towards the corner of the room and watched both in shock and terror as Gina struggled with Bianca on the floor. They were both moving at inhuman speeds, but Bianca was still faster. Nini winced when she saw Bianca scratch Gina’s cheek, leaving a mark behind. 

“Nini, you have to leave!” Gina yelled. 

“Absolutely not,” Nini protested.

Gina cried out when Bianca was able to hold her down, her claws moving towards her neck at an alarming speed. Gina was quick to grab her arms and hold them tightly in her grip, moving her face away as Bianca tried to move her claws closer. 

“ _L_ _EAVE!_ ” Gina shouted harshly.

Nini glared defiantly and looked around, trying to figure out a plan. There was no way in _hell_ she was leaving Gina alone. She didn’t have any powers, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help. Nini set her eyes on the nurse’s desk and quickly moved towards it, pushing it in front of the door. Gina continued to protest as she struggled to get Bianca off of her, but Nini ignored her as she looked around for something to defend herself with.

“If I open the door, Bianca could get out and we can’t let that happen!” Nini snapped. “If she can’t leave, neither can I. And for the last time, I’m not leaving you in here alone!”

Gina went to argue but was distracted when Bianca broke out of her grip and wrapped her claws tightly around Gina’s neck. Nini screamed in horror and watched as Gina struggled to pull Bianca’s arms away. They started to roll around the ground again and ended up crashing into one of the carts the nurses kept in the room. Nini’s eyes narrowed in suspicion when Bianca flinched at the noise and noticed that the Venom surrounding her lost its solid form for a second. 

Did the Venom react to noise?

Nini didn’t hesitate before picking up two of the fallen metal trays and running towards the other teens. Bianca turned around and hissed at her in annoyance. Gina looked like she was ready to pass out but Nini could see how scared she looked.

She didn’t know if this would even work, but she had to try.

Bianca let Gina go and stood up before launching herself towards Nini. Gina took a huge gulp of air and tried to get back on her feet as quickly as possible, her eyes going wide in horror at the sight in front of her.

“ _NINI_!”

She slammed the metal trays together, _hard_.

Bianca collapsed and let out an ear-piercing scream, covering her ears. The Venom around her started losing its solid form and Nini could see Bianca through the mess. Gina kicked her in the chest and pinned Bianca down before facing the other teen.

“Keep doing that,” she encouraged. 

Nini didn’t hesitate before slamming the trays together again, watching in horror as the Venom around Bianca started to move around even more. Gina yelped when it grabbed onto her arm and immediately tried to pull herself away. Nini panicked and started hitting the trays frantically, looking towards the door.

Kourtney and Big Red needed to figure something out, _fast_.

\---

“If I die because of a _frog_ , my family won’t hesitate to make fun of me at the funeral. I know that for a fact!”

Kourtney rolled her eyes at Big Red’s dramatics as she poured more chemicals into the current anti-venom. She flinched when the frog hit the door again, creating another crack. Big Red was running around the room in a frenzy, picking up any item in sight to block the door. Kourtney huffed in frustration when the chemicals didn’t even react, slamming her hands on the table.

What were they doing wrong?

Big Red screamed when the frog made a hole in the door, hissing at them as it tried to get out. As it jumped back into the closet to hit the door again, Kourtney could see through the newly made hole that it bumped into one of the bunsen burners kept in the closet and turned it on. The frog immediately reeled away from the fire before focusing on the door again.

Of _course_.

Kourtney grabbed a bunsen burner from one of the desks and moved towards the door. She stuck the bunsen burner in the hole before turning on the fire, sighing in relief when she heard the frog hiss in protest. She turned towards Big Red with a determined expression on her face.

“Turn the heat up!” she demanded.

He didn’t hesitate and ran towards the thermostat and turning the heat up. Kourtney removed the bunsen burner from the hole in the door and watched as the Venom separated itself from the frog, screaming in rage. It grew even bigger to the point where its head hit the ceiling, and Kourtney was ready to pass out from the sight.

This could _not_ be happening.

The frog jumped away as the Venom took its own form and launched itself towards the door. Kourtney moved out of the way as the Venom crashed through everything holding the door back, her eyes going wide in horror at its contorted form. It wasn’t moving as fast because of how hot the room was getting, but that didn’t stop it from trying to attack the teens. Big Red shoved Kourtney out of the way when the Venom jumped, both of them crashing to the floor. The Venom knocked into the desks behind them instead and hissed, trying to pick itself back up.

“Is the door locked?” Kourtney asked urgently, getting up and grabbing anything she could around her.

Big Red watched in horror at the Venom turned and looked at them with a murderous glare. “Yeah, but that’s not going to matter if this thing can _break through it_!”

Kourtney pulled one of the fallen desks towards them and placed it on its side, acting as a shield in front of them. Big Red only grew more concerned when Kourtney grabbed the fire extinguisher from the corner. The Venom threw the desks it got tangled it across the room, letting out a high-pitched scream. Big Red and Kourtney cried out and covered their ears as the Venom only got louder.

“This is bad this is bad _this is so bad_ ,” Big Red panicked.

Kourtney uncovered her ears and winched at the noise, but she refused to back down. She grabbed the bunsen burner and turned the fire all the way up. Big Red’s eyes went wide when he saw that the other teen had turned it into a mini firebomb.

They could never catch a break, could they?

“You made a bomb?!?” he hissed.

“What else did you expect me to do?” Kourtney snapped back. “It reacts negatively to fire, and the only thing that could completely kill it is a _bomb_!”

“If you burn the school down-”

“Just shut up and trust me!”

The Venom moved towards them and Kourtney didn’t hesitate before throwing the bomb. She and Big Red ducked behind the desk, covering their ears when the Venom started screaming even louder than before. It got bad to the point where all of the windows in the room shattered, sending glass flying everywhere. The Venom eventually went quiet and the teens peeked over the desk, sighing in relief when the fire burned it up. Kourtney grabbed the fire extinguisher and put the rest of it out, making sure there weren’t any traces of the Venom left. Big Red stood up and walked towards Kourtney before grabbing her hand. She immediately squeezed his hand in response as she took a shaky breath.

That was _definitely_ some hardcore nightmare fuel.

“We could’ve died,” Big Red deadpanned.

“But we didn’t,” Kourtney replied, going into the closet to grab another bunsen burner.

“This is insane.”

“Well, this is what we signed up for isn’t it?”

“ _No_.”

Kourtney was taken aback from Big Red’s harsh tone.

“We didn’t sign up for this! _Gina_ didn’t sign up for this!” he snapped. “We were almost killed by some parasite and now we have to go save our friends from another one? Not only that, but there’s a whole _army_ of these things ready to take over the entire city! How do we even stand a chance against that?”

Kourtney didn’t know how to respond to that.

She knew he was scared. Hell, she was _terrified_. She knew Gina was mixed up with some dangerous stuff, but this? It felt like something out of a horror movie. They were outnumbered, and they still didn’t have a solid plan to stop all of this.

But who else was capable of doing this other than them?

“Look, I know you’re scared, but we’re in this mess now and we have to fix it, no matter how unfair it is,” Kourtney said gently. “You told Gina we need her, right? Well, she needs us too.” 

Big Red still looked frustrated but silently nodded in agreement. They grabbed what they needed to they could leave to go help the others, but froze when someone started to bang on the door.

“Who’s in there? What the hell was all that noise?” Mr. Mazzara demanded 

Kourtney and Big Red panicked and looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do. Big Red looked at the broken windows and smiled slightly as an idea formed in his head. He nudged Kourtney to get her attention and motioned towards the windows, her expression dropping to one of dread when she figured out what he was implying. 

Today just kept getting worse.

\---

Gina didn’t know how much longer she could listen to Nini bang the trays together before she snapped. Her hearing was sensitive enough and listening to that on repeat for the past twenty minutes was _not_ a fun experience. The Venom was halfway off of Bianca which was a good thing, but it was still trying to latch onto Gina and try to attack Nini. She cursed when the Venom grabbed onto her leg and tried to pull away from its grip.

“I don’t know if we can keep this up any longer,” Nini said worriedly, yelping when the Venom hissed at them again.

Before she could hit the trays together again, the Venom reached out and latched onto one of them before throwing it across the room. Nini screamed when it also grabbed her arm, throwing her towards Gina. Her spider-sense went off and she caught Nini but was knocked off of Bianca. They hit the wall harshly but Gina took the blow, holding the other girl in her arms protectively. 

“You okay?” Gina asked.

Nini nodded, blushing slightly when she realized how close they were. The teens looked up when they heard the Venom hiss, panicking when they saw it had surrounded Bianca again and it was bigger than before.

“I’m really sick of this thing,” Gina muttered before standing up, pushing Nini behind her.

All of a sudden they heard loud banging at the door, sighing in relief when they recognized Kourtney and Big Red’s voices. Bianca turned and looked at the door too, but Gina was one step ahead of her. She grabbed her arm and flipped her onto the ground, twisting it behind her back and stepping on Bianca’s back to keep her on the ground. Nini took the opportunity to run over to the door and push the nurse’s desk out of the way, letting the other teens in. 

“What took you guys so long?” Nini questioned. 

“Long story short, the Venom trashed Mr. Mazzara’s lab and we had to climb out of the window so we wouldn’t get caught,” Big Red replied. 

Her jaw dropped at his vague explanation but didn’t press him for any more details. Gina grunted when Bianca started fighting back against her, tightening her grip. Kourtney observed the Venom around the teen carefully, flinching when it hissed at her.

“We need to separate the Venom from Bianca,” she said.

“How did you do it with the frog?” Nini asked.

“We turned up the heat,” Big Red replied. “Turns out the Venom doesn’t do so well when it meets fire.”

“Well, we’re going to need a better plan because we don’t have the time to wait for this thing to melt off!” Gina called out as she struggled to keep Bianca down.

“The frog was smaller so it _did_ take less time,” Kourtney muttered.

Nini looked over at the fallen trays as an idea formed in her head. She grabbed them and any other metal objects she could find before handing them to the other teens.

“When the Venom reacts to noise, it starts to lose its solid form,” Nini explained. “Maybe if we make enough noise it’ll come off of Bianca completely?”

“That’s not a bad plan, but are you sure this is going to work?” Big Red asked.

“There’s not a lot of time to debate about this!” Gina snapped, cursing when Bianca tried to claw at her.

Nini offered Big Red a small smile. “Just trust me.”

He still looked hesitant but nodded. They walked towards Bianca and surrounded her, ignoring the murderous glare she was giving all of them. Nini motioned for Gina to let her go and she did, grabbing the extra trays Nini held for her. Before Bianca could even move, the teens hit their metal objects together loudly. Bianca let out an ear-piercing scream and fell to her knees, covering her ears with her claws. They continued to make noise, sighing in relief when the Venom started to separate from Bianca. When a good amount of it came off, Gina put her trays down and grabbed the other girl, pulling her away safely. The Venom roared and took a warped shape, launching itself at the teens. Kourtney stood in front of everyone with the makeshift bomb in her hands. 

“GET DOWN!” she yelled.

The teens took cover and Kourtney turned the fire all the way up on the bunsen burner before throwing it at the Venom. Big Red pulled her away and they ducked behind one of the fallen carts. The Venom screamed at it burned and the teens watched as it grew smaller. Kourtney grabbed the fire extinguisher the nurses kept in the corner before spraying what was left of the fire, making sure there was no trace of the Venom left. 

They all sighed in relief and turned their attention towards Bianca. It didn’t even look like she was sick in the first place, so they figured she would be okay.

“Do you guys deal with stuff like this all the time?” Nini asked.

“Unfortunately yes,” Kourtney replied. “We have Oscorp to thank for that.”

“I have so many questions!” she exclaimed eagerly. 

“That can wait, right now we need to figure out how the hell we’re going to deal with everyone else who’s affected by the Venom serum,” Gina interrupted. 

Big Red and Kourtney looked at each other before facing Gina with smiles on their faces. She narrowed her eyes and looked at them suspiciously. 

“Well, while we were running here, we figured out how to manage that,” Big Red replied.

“Now we know that the Venom doesn’t do well in the heat, we figured that if it was exposed to heat early before it could become a full-fledged parasite, it wouldn't cause any problems and would just die out like a normal disease,” Kourtney continued. 

“So we made a pit stop at the library and I was able to send a message to both the police station and hospital as ‘a government official’ to advise them to keep all the rooms as hot as possible,” Big Red finished.

Gina shook her head in disbelief with a relieved smile on her face. “You guys really are the best.”

“Hey, Secret Spidey Trio for life right?” Big Red teased.

Nini looked confused and he frowned when he realized what he said, groaning in annoyance.

“I guess it’s the Secret Spidey Quartet now,” Big Red sighed. “It doesn’t have the same ring to it.” Kourtney rolled her eyes and smacked him upside the head. He yelped and started cursing at her, Nini laughing as Kourtney pretended not to hear him. They all froze when they heard Bianca move, turning to face the teen in Gina’s arms. She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings with a lost expression on her face.

“What the hell happened?” Bianca asked.

“What do you remember?” Gina questioned gently.

Bianca sat up and tried to recall what she could. “The last thing I remember is talking to my dad about some case at work, but everything after that is a blur.”

“Do you remember the fight with Carlos?” Nini pressed.

“Why would I fight with Carlos?” Bianca asked in confusion.

The teens looked at each other, realizing that the other girl didn’t remember anything from the past couple of days because of the Venom. It was slightly a relief to know that she didn’t mean any of the things she said to Ricky, but still concerning nonetheless. Gina stood up and helped Bianca stand as well.

“I’m going to take her home,” Gina said.

“We’ll talk to the nurses and clear everything up,” Kourtney replied.

Gina nodded and held Bianca’s hand gently as she guided her towards the door. She stopped when she felt her spider-sense go off slightly and turned back around. She noticed Nini looked like she wanted to say something and raise an eyebrow in curiosity. Nini looked up, her face flushing in embarrassment when she saw Gina staring at her.

“What’s wrong Nini?” she asked.

The younger teen hesitated before responding. “I don’t want to just stay here and do nothing, so, can I come with you guys? Please?”

Gina smiled slightly and nodded much to Nini’s relief. They waved goodbye to Kourtney and Big Red before leaving the school. They had to look around to make sure no teachers were walking around since school still was in session. But after everything, there was no way Gina was letting Bianca go back to class. She needed to rest. Gina took her bike to school this morning, but Nini had her car and offered to drive. She let Bianca into the car first as Gina grabbed her bike to attach it to the back of Nini’s car.

She was finishing up when Nini approached her.

“Thank you for saving me, again,” she said quietly.

“Well you saved me too,” Gina replied. “You’re the one who figured out the Venom’s weakness.”

Nini blushed at the praise and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear nervously.

“I know you’re going to try and keep me in the dark with everything going on with Spider-Woman, but I hope you know I’m not going to let you, especially after what I saw today,” she protested. “I want to help Gina, and you’re going to get my help whether you like it or not.”

Gina had a feeling Nini was going to fight back, and at this point, she had to accept it. Nini was stubborn and she wasn’t going to back down. As much as Gina hated to admit it, Nini was in too deep now for her to stay out of the loop.

But Gina refused to let anything happen to her, even if it meant giving up her own life.

“You’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met,” Gina deadpanned.

Nini’s blush grew darker but smiled when Gina didn’t try to fight against her request. She walked towards the driver’s side of the car but stopped when she remembered something. Gina looked confused when Nini turned back to face her.

“What is-”

Nini walked back up to Gina and kissed her on the cheek quickly before pulling away. Gina felt her face heat up as the other girl avoided her gaze.

“Every time I’ve seen Spider-Woman I decided to give her a kiss on the cheek for good luck, and you’re Spider-Woman, so, yeah,” Nini rambled quickly. 

She ran towards the driver’s side of the car and scrambled into her seat, slamming the door closed with more force than necessary. Gina reached up and touched her face where Nini kissed her as her heart started to race.

This girl was going to be the death of her.

Gina finally got in the car and sat in the passenger’s seat. Nini refused to look her way and started the car, driving out of the parking lot. Bianca still looked confused and Gina felt guilt pool in her stomach because of it. But she couldn’t help but think of Ricky as well. She placed her hand on top of Nini’s to catch the other girl’s attention as she formed an idea.

“I think we should make a quick pit stop,” Gina suggested.

Nini went to ask where but figured out what the other girl meant from the look she was giving her. Bianca sat up in her seat and watched as Nini started driving in a different direction.

“Where are we going?” Bianca asked.

Gina turned around in her seat and gave the other teen a sympathetic smile.

“There’s something you should know.”

\---

_Ricky walked through his house nervously. He was alone and all of the lights were turned off._

_“Hello?” he asked._

_He flinched when he heard a loud bang come from somewhere inside the house. A chill went down his spine when he heard someone laughing, recognizing the voice immediately. He turned around and froze when Harry was right behind him with a sinister grin on his face._

_“Miss me Bowen?” he mocked._

_Ricky backed away but Harry kept moving closer. His trembled as Harry stared him down, his green eyes filled with nothing but rage,_

_“Stay away from me,” Ricky said shakily._

_“Or what?” Harry snapped._

_Ricky cried out when the older teen grabbed his wrists tightly, pinning him against the counter behind them._

_“You have no_ **_idea_ ** _who you’re dealing with,” Harry scoffed._

_“You’re insane,” Ricky whispered._

_“And that’s exactly why you should be scared,” Harry shot back. “I don’t lie. I’m not done with you or your friends. If something bad happens to them, you only have yourself to blame.”_

_Ricky shoved Harry away and ran towards the door. He tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge no matter how hard he pulled. He gasped when Harry grabbed him by the hair before pulling him and throwing him towards the ground. Ricky sat up but froze when he saw how close Harry was to him. He winced when the older teen grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to make eye contact._

_“You’re broken Bowen, and that’s all you’ll ever be.”_

Ricky woke up in a panic and immediately checked his surroundings. He took a shaky breath when he realized he was in his room, but he still couldn’t get himself to completely calm down. Ever since the incident with Harry, Ricky has been suffering from nightmares. Bianca bringing it back up only made them worse. 

He hated how much he couldn’t stop thinking about Harry, but he couldn’t help it. Ricky had a strong feeling Harry really was going to come back, and he didn’t even want to think about what could happen if he did. 

He had the power to turn the entire world against Spider-Woman, who _knows_ what else he has up his sleeve.

Ricky froze when he heard footsteps coming towards his room. EJ opened the door with a worried expression on his face and Ricky groaned, burying his face in his hands. Obviously it would be E.J., the other boy refused to let him stay home alone.

He hated being so paranoid. 

“Did you have another nightmare?” EJ asked gently, sitting next to Ricky on the bed.

He just nodded and the senior frowned before pulling him into a hug. Ricky blushed slightly when EJ kissed him on the forehead but was grateful for the comfort.

“I can’t stop thinking about Harry and I hate it,” Ricky muttered. “No matter what I do he won’t leave my head.”

The senior didn’t say anything in response, opting to hug the younger teen tighter instead. He wished he could take all of Ricky’s pain away, but that wasn’t realistic. He didn’t know what to say or do and that frustrated him to no end. 

“I wish I could do more to help you,” EJ said softly.

Ricky moved up and kissed him on the cheek. “You being here is enough. I just need more time to get over this.”

EJ looked hesitant but didn’t say anything else. They heard the doorbell ring and got up to see who it was. Ricky was surprised to see Gina and Nini, but dread settled in his stomach when he saw Bianca standing in front of them,

“What the fuck is she doing here?” EJ demanded.

“She just wants to talk,” Gina replied.

“She’s done enough talking,” EJ hissed, glaring at Bianca.

“At least hear her out-”

“Are you kidding me?” EJ snapped, cutting Nini off. “Why would we want to-”

Ricky placed a hand on the senior's back to try and calm him down. EJ looked down at him and took the hint, but he didn’t stop glaring at Bianca. Ricky noticed how tired she looked and started to worry when he realized she was crying.

“Ricky, there aren’t enough words to tell you how sorry I am,” Bianca said as her voice shook. “The last couple of days have been a blur, but that still doesn’t excuse what I said. I understand if you don’t forgive me, but I really am sorry.”

“It’s okay Bianca, don’t worry about it,” Ricky replied.

What she said did affect him, but he hated holding grudges and he could see how sorry the other girl was. Bianca let out a sob and thanked him. Nini wrapped an arm around her and gave Ricky a small smile before facing Gina.

“I’ll wait with Bianca in the car,” she said.

She nodded and watched the other teens walk towards Nini’s car before turning back towards Ricky and EJ She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, observing them suspiciously. Ricky felt his face heat up when he realized he was wearing EJ’s varsity jacket and had subconsciously stepped closer to the older teen.

“So you guys finally confessed your undying love for each other?” Gina teased.

“I hate you,” EJ deadpanned with a blush on his face.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she replied cheekily. 

Ricky laughed when they started bickering. He can’t remember the last time he talked to Gina, but seeing her again was nice.

It was like she never left.

“Do you mind if I talk to Ricky alone for a second?” Gina asked, breaking Ricky out of his thoughts.

EJ nodded and walked towards the kitchen to get some food, leaving the teens alone.

“I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you lately,” Gina said quietly.

“Gi it’s okay-”

“No it’s not,” she argued, cutting Ricky off. “You’ve been through a lot and I haven’t been there for you when I should’ve.”

“Well you have stuff going on at home too,” Ricky shot back. “You have enough on your plate, I get it.”

He frowned when Gina flinched back after what he said. He moved to apologize but she stopped him before he could get a word out.

“Even if I do have stuff going on, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t check up on you,” Gina said. “I really am sorry.”

Ricky smiled and hugged her, burying his face in her hair. Gina hugged him back tightly and rested her face on his shoulder. 

“I missed you Porter,” he muttered.

“Missed you too Bowen,” Gina replied quietly.

EJ walked out of the kitchen holding a sandwich. “Are you guys done being mushy yet?”

They both flipped EJ off and he gasped in mock offense. They talked for a little while until Nini honked her car horn, signaling that it was time to leave.

“Do you think we could hang out soon? And maybe convince Carlos to come with us?” Ricky asked.

“Yeah, we can try,” Gina replied.

She hugged him again before waving goodbye and walking towards Nini’s car. Ricky waved back and started to close the door. He stopped when he saw Gina freeze and look around cautiously.

“Are you okay?” Ricky asked.

Gina turned around and smiled, but Ricky could tell it was fake. “Yeah, just thought I heard a squirrel. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

He watched as Nini drove away and finally closed the door, but he couldn’t help but be a little suspicious of Gina’s weird behavior. EJ walked up to Ricky and hugged him from behind, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. 

“Do you want to watch something on Netflix?” EJ questioned.

“Yeah, sure,” Ricky replied absentmindedly.

EJ noticed he wasn’t listening but didn’t say anything. He went to set the TV up while Ricky opened the door and went outside. He stood in the spot where Gina froze and looked around, frowning when he didn’t find anything. There definitely wasn’t a squirrel around. If Gina did see one, Ricky would’ve heard it too.

So what _did_ she see? And why did she look so worried about it?

\---

The green goblin watched as Ricky went back into his house with a smirk on his face. He was watching him from across the street perched up in a tree. He knew Gina could tell he was around and that she would be paranoid. But if she tried to do something as Spider-Woman, the police wouldn’t hesitate before trying to arrest her. She had no choice but to sit back and watch, and that amused Harry to no end.

His plan was finally coming together.

His phone rang and he picked it up, rolling his eyes when he saw it was Lynne. He answered and left out a sigh of annoyance.

“What the fuck do you want?” he demanded. 

“The subjects with the Venom serum have been cured,” she said shakily. “Somehow they figured out how to flush it out of their systems.”

He grabbed his phone tightly, causing cracks to form on the screen. 

“You said the serum was indestructible,” the green goblin hissed.

“I never said that,” Lynne argued.

“I don’t care,” he deadpanned. “The only reason you’re still alive is because you’re still useful. Find a way to fix this before I change my mind.”

He hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket before looking at Ricky’s house again. He glared when he saw E. through the window and clenched his fist tightly. He knew Gina had to be behind this. He didn’t know how she pulled it off, but he knew she had help. The green goblin pulled out his phone and took a picture of the two teens before walking away.

He didn’t care how many tricks Gina had up her sleeve, he refused to let her win.


	15. the reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even on Gina’s day off there was something bad going on.
> 
> Luck was never on their side, was it?
> 
> tw// blood mention & death

**ricky: hey**

**ricky: gina & I are gonna be @ the coffeeshop tmrw after school**

**ricky: ik miss jenn asked u to stay for a meeting even if there’s no rehearsal but I wanted to know if u would still want to come when ur done**

**ricky: we haven’t hung out in awhile & imy :(**

**ricky: so just text me back when u can**

**ricky: hope u can come**

Carlos didn’t know how long he stared at Ricky’s texts, but it was enough time for Seb to notice something was wrong. He invited Carlos over to his house so he could show him his barn and introduce him to all their farm animals. Now they were in Seb’s room cuddling on his bed watching Mean Girls, but Carlos didn’t seem to care about what Regina George was doing, which was unusual for him.

“Are you okay?” Seb asked quietly.

Carlos sighed and put his phone down, resting his head back on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Ricky texted me. He asked if I want to hang out with him and Gina tomorrow after my meeting with Miss Jenn.”

“I’m guessing you don’t want to go?” Seb deadpanned.

Carlos frowned and sat up, surprised by the other teen’s attitude. Seb sighed and paused the movie and leaned back against his pillows.

“Why do you sound so disappointed?” Carlos questioned.

“Because this is getting ridiculous!” Seb exclaimed in frustration. “Ricky and Gina are your friends. _Best friends_. You shouldn’t have to act like hanging out with them is something terrible.”

“But Gina-”

“You seriously need to let that go,” he said, cutting Carlos off. “I know you want to be there for Gina, and it’s sweet to see how much you care about her. But you’ve been so pushy to the point where she won’t even talk to you anymore! Gina doesn’t have to tell you everything. If and when she wants to talk to you about whatever is going on, I can guarantee that you’ll be the first person she goes to.”

Carlos hated how right Seb was. He had to admit that he’s gone too far, and he did miss talking to Gina. He also felt guilty for avoiding Ricky because of this entire mess. All he wanted was things to go back to the way they were so he could have his friends back.

But despite all of this, something _still_ felt off, and he knew it was because of Gina. But at this point, he was done trying to figure it out. Just like Seb said, if Gina wanted to talk to him about it, she would when she was ready. 

“I hate how you’re right all the time,” Carlos whined.

Seb smiled and pulled his boyfriend into his arms and kissed the side of his head. “Not my fault I’m smarter than you.”

Carlos hit him playfully and snorted when the other teen pretended that it hurt. Seb played the movie again while Carlos took out his phone to text Ricky back.

**carlos: sure**

**ricky: great :)**

\---

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, we’ll be fine!”

“I don’t know-”

Big Red put his hands on Gina’s shoulders and shook her gently. “Look, you haven’t had any time to hang out with Carlos and Ricky with everything going on. Right now, Spider-Woman isn’t needed and you deserve a break. Kourtney and I will focus on tracking down the Vulture while _you_ go and be a normal teenager for once.”

Gina wanted to see Ricky and Carlos, she really did, but she couldn’t help but stress about the Vulture and Oscorp. Thankfully, because of Big Red and Kourtney, the Venom wasn’t a major problem anymore. But they figured the Vulture would try and continue to distribute the serum, so they had to work fast to find the masked villain. Gina’s been on high alert because of it, and she’s become even more paranoid when she felt someone watching her when she went to visit Ricky.

She knew it was Oscorp which frustrated her to no end. Harry had made it clear that he was always watching, and that scared the shit out of her. If Gina tried anything, something bad could happen to her friends. Going out as Spider-Woman was nearly impossible with the police on her trail now.

Harry had really pulled out all the stops to corner her.

Right now all they could do was try and track down the Vulture and figure out where to go from there. Whoever they were they were connected to Oscorp, and Gina could use that to her advantage.

“Gi, I will literally _pay_ you to go relax,” Kourtney deadpanned. “You trust us don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Gina replied without hesitation. “I just feel like I’m slacking off when I’m supposed to be focusing on taking down Oscorp.”

“I hope you know how terrible that sentence sounds,” Big Red said. “Right now, you’re _only_ job is to go have fun. That’s an order.”

Gina tried to argue again, but gave up when she saw the looks on the other teen’s faces. They were right, she _knew_ they were right. So she would try and relax for once.

Keyword: try.

“Guys!”

They turned around and were surprised to see Nini running towards them. She’s been kind of distant lately ever since the Bianca incident, which Gina understood. It was really scary and she wouldn’t be surprised if the other teen wanted nothing to do with Spider-Woman anymore.

But Nini was stubborn, and from the look on her face, Gina knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

“I still want to help,” she demanded.

“Cool, we could use more help,” Gina said.

Nini looked at her suspiciously. “You’re not going to even try and fight me on this?”

“Well your the one who said I’m getting your help whether I like it or not,” she teased.

Kourtney and Big Red snorted when Nini blushed from Gina’s words. The bell went off above them and the teens started walking to class.

“Alright, then after school Nini will come with us to track down the Vulture, and _you_ will go hang out with Carlos and Ricky,” Kourtney declared. 

“Carlos is actually going?” Nini asked.

“Yeah, but I know he’s still mad about everything,” Gina replied.

“Well now is the time to smooth things over!” Big Red exclaimed. “If he’s going, that means he wants to see you. That’s a good first step.”

She nodded in agreement as they walked into history. Gina couldn’t tell Carlos the real truth, she knew that. Too many people already knew her secret and it was too risky. She honestly didn’t know what to say when she saw him, but Gina really did want to make up with Carlos and stop fighting.

She missed her best friend.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, but as soon as her last class was over. Gina couldn’t help but feel nervous. Big Red, Kourtney, and Nini wished her luck and left to go to Big Red’s house to try and track down the Vulture since his parents wouldn’t be home until late. Gina walked towards Ricky’s locker, smiling when she saw EJ was also there. Ricky saw her and waved which helped to ease Gina’s nerves.

“I’m kind of offended I wasn’t invited,” EJ teased as she walked over to them.

Ricky rolled his eyes and closed his locker. “You _do_ realize you’ve been with me everyday this week? You can survive a couple of hours without me.”

“I’m convinced I’ll die on the spot if you leave me alone,” the senior said dramatically.

Gina laughed when Ricky smacked EJ upside the head. They walked to the parking lot together and Gina couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Ricky’s orange car. She still thought it was ugly as _hell_ , but she missed it. EJ pulled Gina into a side hug and pressed a quick kiss to Ricky’s cheek before leaving and making his way to his own car.

“Gina, make sure Ricky doesn’t do anything stupid!!” he called out.

Ricky flipped him off and EJ blew a kiss in retaliation. Gina snorted when she saw a blush forming on her friend’s face and they got into the car.

“You guys are cute together,” she said.

Ricky wrinkled his nose and started the car. “Never say that again, you’re ruining my bad boy skater reputation.”

“You never had that reputation to begin with,” Gina deadpanned.

He gasped offensively and pouted when the other teen continued to tease him. They joked with each other the entire car ride to the coffee shop, and Gina can’t remember the last time she felt this carefree. It was as if things never changed. Spider-Woman took over her life and it barely gave her any time to be a normal teenager anymore. Right now, in this moment, Gina was at peace.

But as soon as they get out of Ricky’s car, reality would hit.

Carlos is still mad at her, Ricky is constantly looking over his shoulder because of Harry, Oscorp is watching all of her friends, and Spider-Woman is now a wanted criminal. It seemed like every time they came close to solving a problem, another one came up, and Gina was tired of it.

If she could stay in Ricky’s car and forget about everything, she would. But they pulled up to the coffee shop, and all the things Gina was worrying about came back. They walked inside and sat at a table, talking while they waited for Carlos to arrive. Ricky could tell she was stressed and held her hand which Gina was grateful for. They both sat up when the door opened, tensing when it was Carlos. He sat across from them but made no move to speak. A waitress came over and took their coffee orders, leaving as quickly as she could when she notice the tense atmosphere. 

Well, so much for “relaxing with friends”.

\---

Big Red groaned and banged his head against his laptop, silently questioning his existence. The teens were currently in Big Red’s basement trying to find any trace of the Vulture. Nini winced at the sight and figured he reached another dead end. They’ve been trying to find any connections between the Vulture and Oscorp for _hours_ , but with every lead they reach another dead end. Nini sighed and read over the list of Oscorp employees again, frowning when she noticed Kourtney giving her a weird look.

“Kourt? Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked nervously.

“What’s up with you and Gina?” Kourtney shot back with a raised eyebrow.

Nini’s face immediately turned a bright shade of red. Big Red looked up from his laptop with a curious expression on his face. “Didn’t you kiss her? Multiple times?”

“ _WHAT_?!” Kourtney exclaimed.

“How the hell do you know that?!” Nini demanded as her blush grew darker.

Big Red shrugged and turned his attention back towards his laptop. “Bianca told me. Also, the internet exists.”

He pulled up a news article and showed it to the other teens. Nini felt a small part of her die when she saw it was a picture from the green goblin attack at the mall, and you could clearly see her kissing Spider-Woman’s cheek. Kourtney squealed and shook her shoulders and Nini sunk further into embarrassment. She can’t _believe_ the paparazzi even managed to see that, but she felt even more mortified when she realized how many people could’ve seen that photo.

It took awhile for Nini to come to terms with her feelings towards Gina, but she knew for a fact that it went beyond friendship. As much as she wanted to talk to the other girl about it, there were a lot of other things that they needed to take care off first.

Her crush could wait.

“Can we _please_ just go back to finding the Vulture?” Nini begged. 

Kourtney pouted but didn’t push for anymore details. They continued to try and track down the Vulture but as time went on, the teens were starting to lose hope. It was as if the masked villain didn’t even exist. Nini groaned and dramatically threw herself over Kourtney’s lap. She rolled her eyes at her friend’s dramatics but made no move to push Nini off. 

“If I have to search up the word vulture one more time, I think I’m actually going to lose my mind,” Nini deadpanned.

“I don’t understand, there has to be _something_ ,” Kourtney muttered.

They waited for Big Red to add something, but grew suspicious when they realized how quiet he’s been. He was furiously typing away at his laptop with a determined expression on his face. Nini and Kourtney figured that he found a lead and decided to leave him alone for now. They went upstairs to grab snacks and Big Red was still working when they got back. After a while he stopped typing and cheered loudly, startling his friends.

“Don’t scare us like that!” Kourtney hissed.

Big Red ignored her and turned his laptop around with a tired smile on his face. “I did it!”

Nini and Kourtney looked at his screen and tried to figure out what he meant. Nini’s eyes went wide in shock when she saw an Oscorp logo in the corner of the screen.

“Did you hack into Oscorp’s security system?” Nini asked in disbelief.

“No, I hacked into the Pentagon,” Big Red deadpanned. 

Nini rolled her eyes at his sass. She leaned over his shoulder and watched as he began to go through footage from all the cameras in the building.

“Do you know how dangerous this is?” Kourtney demanded. “How do you know they didn’t get an alert about an error in the system?”

Big Red waved her off and started to type again. “ _Relax_ , I have that covered. I used a code that temporarily disables their system alerts. We have about ten minutes until they realize something is wrong.”

“But how is hacking into their security system going to help us find the Vulture?” Nini questioned.

“Well, there’s literally no trace of them on the internet. Not even the news knows they exist,” Big Red explained. “The only thing we know about them is that they work for Oscorp. So I figured that maybe they’ve been there before. If we could at least get a picture of the Vulture, we’ll know where to start looking.”

Kourtney scoffed and raised an eyebrow. “You’re full of surprises Red.”

He blushed slightly at the praise and smiled. Big Red continued to go through the footage as the other teens watched from behind, trying to find a clue. Nini squinted at the screen when she noticed something and motioned for Big Red to stop.

“Do you see that person? In the window?” she questioned. 

Kourtney narrowed her eyes when she saw something coming out of the person’s back. “Press play.”

Big Red played the footage, all of them glaring when Harry appeared onscreen. It was nighttime when the footage was filmed and he was standing alone in the building. The teens watched as Harry opened the window the person was in front of, gasping at the sight. It was one thing for Gina to tell them about the Vulture, but _seeing_ them was a different experience. A shiver went up Nini’s spine when she saw the claws on the masked villain’s suit, remembering how badly Gina’s shoulder was messed up because of them. 

“Yeah, that’s definitely the Vulture,” Kourtney said shakily.

Big Red turned up the volume so they could listen to their conversation.

_“No one wants the Venom serum anymore, not after everything they’ve heard about it,” the Vulture said._

_“Well convince them!” Harry snapped._

_“It’s not that simple. You have to accept it, your plan isn’t going to work.”_

_Harry leaned close towards the Vulture, his eyes glowing a dangerous shade of green. “My plan is_ **_fine_** _.”_

_“This is a waste of time,” the Vulture deadpanned. “I’m not going to help you if you don’t try and fix all of thus.”_

_“If you even_ **_think_ ** _about walking out, you can forget about the money,” Harry snarled._

The teens couldn’t tell what the Vulture was thinking because of their mask, but they made no move to leave. Nini hated the way Harry smiled afterwards and resisted the urge to punch the screen. Her heart stopped when someone else entered the video, her jaw dropping when she saw it was Ricky’s mom. Her mind went back to the press conference when Harry framed Gina, remembering how drained Lynne looked.

What kind of trouble did she get herself into?

_“What the hell do you want?” Harry demanded._

_“We were able to make more of the venom serum, but only enough for one person,” Lynne said._

_She flinched when the teen grabbed her shoulder harshly. “_ **_One_ ** _isn’t going to be enough!”_

_“You said you wanted it to be resistant to everything, and that’s what we did,” Lynne replied. “It’s stronger than the last batch. Isn’t that enough?”_

_Harry squeezed her shoulder with more force than necessary before letting her go. He started pacing and muttering to himself, Lynne watching him cautiously as he did. The Vulture still stood still, but their shoulders were tense. He eventually stopped in front of Lynne with a crazed look in her eyes._

_“Go get the serum,” he demanded._

_She left and Harry turned back to face the Vulture. “I’m going to give you the serum to hold for me. When I contact you again, you’re going to give the serum to the person I tell you. No questions asked.”_

_“The person you’re thinking about isn’t one of our regulars, are they?” the Vulture asked._

_A sinister smirk formed on Harry’s face and he laughed._

_“I have eyes and ears everywhere, I know what’s been going on. Lets just say Spider-Woman won’t be too happy with my decision.”_

The video stopped and Big Red quickly took a screenshot of the Vulture before completely leaving Oscorp’s server. Kourtney started to help Big Red try and see if they could figure out what the Vulture’s suit was made of and start tracking them from there, but Nini couldn’t get Harry’s words out of her head. 

“You guys said Oscorp has been watching all of us right?” Nini asked.

“Yeah,” Kourtney replied. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“How do you guys know they’re watching,” Nini pressed, ignoring the other girl’s question.

“They left a bunch of photos at Gina’s house,” Big Red said. “They’re in my dresser. Gina thought it would be better if I held onto them. But like Kourt said, what does that have to do with any of this?”

Nini got up and walked towards Big Red’s dresser, ignoring the confused looks she received from her friends. She opened the drawer and saw an envelope which she assumed was filled with the photos. She emptied it onto Big Red’s bed, much to his annoyance. Nini looked through the photos and tried to repress how scared she felt when she saw a photo of herself in her bedroom, completely unaware. She found the photo she was looking for and showed it to the other teens. It was a picture of Nini at the coffee shop near the school with Seb. Rehearsal ended early that day and Seb had asked if she wanted to hang out. They were both smiling in the photo, completely unaware of the danger following them. 

“Harry said he’s always watching us right?” Nini asked.

“I’m still don’t know where you’re going with this,” Big Red said. “We found what we needed, the Venom isn’t our main problem right now.”

“Well it should be!” she snapped, surprising the other teens. 

Kourtney stood up and hesitantly placed a hand on Nini’s shoulder. “Big Red is right. What Harry said is concerning, but we have no idea what he could mean by that.”

“But what if he means today?” Nini shot back. “He must know Carlos and Gina are fighting, right? So what if Carlos is the person he wants to give the Venom serum to? He’s already mad at Gina! In Harry’s eyes that’s the perfect target.”

“That’s just speculation,” Big Red argued.

“But she’s not wrong,” Kourtney said, “If Nini’s right, that means the Vulture is going to be there _and_ Carlos is in danger. Shouldn’t we at least check it out?”

Big Red sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Even on Gina’s day _off_ there was something bad going on.

Luck was never on their side, was it?

“Alright, you guys check on the coffee shop and I’ll stay here and see if I can find anything on the Vulture from the photos I took,” he relented. 

Kourtney and Nini nodded before grabbing their things. They wished Big Red good luck and made their way to Nini’s car.

“You’re good at this,” Kourtney said as she sat in the passenger seat. 

“Good at what?” Nini asked.

“This whole Spider-Woman operation, you adjusted pretty fast,” Kourtney replied.

Her friend blushed at the praise and started the car. “Well, I want to help as much as I can.”

“You mean help Gina as much as you can?” Kourtney teased.

Nini’s blush darkened and glared when the other teen started to laugh. She started riving towards the coffeeshop and the light hearted atmosphere in the car changed into a tense one. Things were starting to become more dangerous, and Nini was afraid of what Harry would try to pull next. They’ve seen what the Venom can do to a person, and she didn’t want to see Carlos have to go through that.

She really hoped that this time, she was wrong. 

\---

“Play rehearsals have been going well! But it’s really not as fun without you Gina. Rico tried to do your dance solo and he accidently knocked over a bunch of props when he did. It was hilarious!” 

Ricky laughed awkwardly as Gina and Carlos continued to stare at each other without saying anything. He was trying his best to start some kind of conversation, but neither one of them wanted to speak. 

“Did you guys hear that rumor about Mr. Mazzara’s new girlfriend? People think it might be Miss Jenn but I doubt it, she’s been talking to my dad a lot,” Ricky rushed out with a smile on his face.

His smile dropped when his friends still stayed silent. He groaned and banged his head against the table in frustration. Gina narrowed her eyes when Carlos pulled out his phone and texted someone. She knew he was being petty and wanted her to talk first, but Gina didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. As much as she wanted to make up with Carlos, she refused to put up with him being rude about it. Their waitress came back with their drinks and was quick to leave. Gina frowned when her spider-sense went off and looked in the direction the waitress was walking.

What the hell was that?

“Okay, I can’t do this anymore,” Ricky snapped. “Can one of you guys say _something_?”

“What’s the point of talking if Gina is just going to lie again?” Carlos asked.

“If you really didn’t want to talk, you wouldn’t have come,” Gina replied harshly. “So cut the bullshit.”

Ricky contemplated slamming his head against the table again when his friends started to argue. He sunk into his seat when everyone in the coffee shop looked their way, frowning at the commotion. 

“So it was okay when we pushed Ricky to tell us what was going on, but when it comes to you all of a sudden it’s a problem?” Carlos snapped. “Do you realize how hypocritical that sounds???”

“I was in a dangerous situation-”

“That shouldn’t make a difference!” Carlos argued, cutting Ricky off. “How do we know that Gina isn’t in a dangerous situation?”

She was, they _all_ were. But Gina couldn’t tell him that, as much as it killed her to keep up with all of these lies.

“Do you care about me Carlos?” she asked.

“Of course I do,” he replied.

“Then please just let this go,” Gina begged. “I’m not in a dangerous situation. Things at home with my mom have been really weird and it’s hard to talk about it. But when I’m ready to talk, I promise you’ll be the first person I go to.”

Carlos knew she was lying. Not completely, but there was still something she was keeping from them. He went to argue again, but the conversation he had with Seb popped back into his mind and stopped him. He really was tired of all this fighting, and at this point, he just had to wait for Gina to come to him. Ricky looked at both of his friends frantically, silently praying they wouldn’t start fighting again. Carlos reached out and held Gina’s hand before squeezing it gently.

“Okay,” he agreed.

Ricky sighed in relief as Gina smiled. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry for being so pushy,” Carlos muttered.

“You were just worried,” Gina assured. “But I’m sorry too. I snapped at you when you were just looking out for me.”

Carlos reached over and pulled her into a hug. Gina sighed in relief and held him tightly, smiling into his shoulder. Things were still messy, but she was happy to have her best friend back.

“So no more fighting?” Ricky asked.

“No more fighting,” Carlos replied.

They pulled him into the hug, laughing when they almost spilled their coffee. They sat back down and Gina held up her cup of coffee. “What team?”

Ricky and Carlos rolled their eyes playfully but raised their coffee too. “Wildcats!”

Gina too a sip of her coffee, flinching when her spider-sense went off. She had to put the cup down and hold her head as it started to get worse. Ricky frowned and rubbed Gina’s back to try and comfort her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, just a headache,” Gina lied with a smile.

When she looked at Ricky, her spider-sense dulled down. But she turned to face Carlos and it came back at full force. He was just sitting and drinking his coffee, occasional stopping to talk to them. Gina tried not to show how much pain she was in as she stared at her friend. There was no danger around them, so why the hell was her spider-sense going off. She felt someone staring at them and turned around, narrowing her eyes when she saw it was the waitress. Her eyes shifted down and looked at her apron, squinting when she saw something poking out of the pocket. Her heart dropped when she realized it was a syringe. Gina quickly turned back around, panicking when she saw Carlos finished his coffee.

_No_.

“GINA!”

Nini was at the door of the coffeeshop, Kourtney right behind her. Carlos and Ricky were confused and started to ask Gina what was going on, but she tuned them out. Nini gave her a look and that’s all Gina needed to confirm what was happening. She stood up and glared at the waitress who ran towards the bathroom.

“I have to use the bathroom,” Gina muttered. 

“Wait what-”

Before Ricky and Carlos could question her further, she was already gone. Gina practically ran after the waitress and slammed the bathroom door open. She frowned when she saw she was completely alone. Gina checked all of the stalls but still didn’t see the waitress anywhere. She looked up, raising an eyebrow at the open window. She moved back to lock the bathroom door before climbing up the wall and out the window. Gina found herself in the alley outside of the coffeeshop and looked around. Her spider-sense was _screaming_ and she quickly turned around, gasping at the sight. 

The waitress was lying on the ground, dead. Her neck was twisted and she was completely still on the ground, blood pooling from her mouth. The syringe that was in her pocket was shattered next to her body, but Gina knew it was the Venom.

The waitress used it on Carlos, and Gina didn’t suspect a thing until it was too late.

She covered her mouth and tried not to throw up. She leaned against the wall as she trembled, looking up at the Vulture who was hovering over the waitress. They just stared at Gina silently, their claws covered in blood. Gina wasn’t Spider-Woman right now. If she fought back, the Vulture would figure it out and kill her. But she was a civillian right now who just witnessed a murder, which still gave the masked villain a reason to kill her. 

Gina was screwed either way.

But she was ready to fight, and waited for the Vulture to make a move. Her heart dropped when the Vulture’s wings flapped violently towards her. Gina shakily pushed herself off of the wall and took a deep breath. But before she could do anything, the Vulture flew away. She froze and watched as they flew away in confusion. She should be questioning why she was still alive, but Gina was too relieved to care. She looked back at the waitress and couldn’t help but feel guilty. She was probably forced to do this, which just made things worse. Gina punched the wall angrily as tears started to form in her eyes.

Harry. The green goblin. She _knew_ he was behind this, and the fact that he would go this far just to get to her made her sick. Gina tried to calm herself down and quickly slipped back into the bathroom. As much as she wanted to stay with the waitress until an ambulance arrived, Carlos was her main concern right now. Dread settled over her when she walked back inside the shop and saw a crowd of people at their table. Gina ran and pushed through the crowd, freezing at what she saw. Ricky was crying and Kourtney hugged him as she shed a few tears herself. Nini was screaming at everyone to stay back and held Carlos in her arms. Gina crouched down, trying not to cry at the sight of how pale Carlos looked. 

“He started convulsing and fell on the floor,” Nini whispered as her voice shook. “We called an ambulance, but we both know they’re not going to help.”

“The Vulture did this. They got to the waitress,” Gina choked out. “She was dead when I found them.”

Nini reached out and held her hand, squeezing it tightly. The ambulance finally arrived and they took Carlos away. Gina flinched when she saw them carrying a body bag as well, knowing it was the waitress. Nini still didn’t let go of her hand and didn’t say anything when Gina pulled her into a hug. Kourtney and Ricky were still holding onto each other beside them, watching as the ambulance drove away with Carlos.

“They called his parents,” Kourtney said quietly. “They’re waiting at the hospital.”

“Do you think he’s going to be okay?” Ricky asked.

“He has to be,” Gina replied.

They stood there for a little bit longer before leaving. Kourtney left with Ricky, texting Nini and Gina to let them know she was going to stop by at Big Red’s and update him on the situation. They watched their friends leave before getting into Nini’s car. Gina still held onto the other girl’s hand, refusing to let go. Nini smiled sadly and started to drive, holding on to Gina’s hand tightly the entire time. They reached Gina’s house eventually, but still stayed in the car. Nini hesitated before kissing the back of the other girl’s hand to try and comfort her.

“I let my guard down, and Carlos got hurt because of it,” she whispered. “This is my fault.”

“Stop that,” Nini demanded. “We had no idea this was going to happen. If we didn’t find that footage, things could've been a lot worse. But we did, and we _tried_. All we can do now is figure out a way to stop this and hope Carlos gets better.”

“It’s different this time, the Venom,” Gina argued. “Carlos wasn’t reacting the same way Bianca did. Oscorp did something to it.”

“Then we’ll figure out an antidote,” Nini assured. “It’s going to be okay.”

Gina didn’t believe that, not by a long shot. She knew the other teen was just trying to make her feel better, but right now? She just wanted to be alone. Gina reached over and kissed Nini on the cheek gently. She got out of the car and waved, not aware of the blushing mess she left behind. Gina sighed and opened the door, surprised to see her mom sitting on the stairs. She frowned when she saw how distressed she seemed, her hands covering her face.

“Mom?” Gina asked hesitantly.

Ms. Porter sat up, her eyes shining with tears. She stood up and pulled her daughter into a tight hug and started to sob. Gina froze, her arms hovering awkwardly in the air. She was confused, and her mom was in no state to explain what was wrong. But the events of today finally set it, and gina found herself breaking down. She hugged her mom back and clutched the back of her shirt tightly. Gina buried her face in her mom’s shoulder as she cried, her body shaking.

She lost her best friend just when she got him back, and Gina had no one else to blame but herself. 


	16. the disappearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This ends now. If I have to kill Harry to save everyone, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Gina doesn’t think she’ll ever forget the look on Seb’s face when he found out what happened to Carlos.

Nini thought it would be better if he heard the news from them, so they went to Seb’s house together. He refused to believe it at first. Seb yelled at them, saying they were lying and that Carlos was fine. But when he turned on the news and saw his boyfriend’s face onscreen, he lost it. Nini had to catch him before he fell to the ground. Seb sobbed into her shoulder, holding the other teen tightly. Gina had to look away from the sight as her guilt grew. The news spread around school like a wildfire and it was all people could talk about. Rumors were starting to go around and Gina didn’t know how much more of it she could take. Seb has been going to the hospital every day to be with Carlos instead of coming to school, and according to him? Things were only getting worse. 

Big Red and Kourtney went with him one day and confirmed that whatever Carlos was given, it was not the same Venom serum as before. It was a lot more intense and it would take more than heat to fix it. Gina resisted the urge to scream when she heard another student talking about how Carlos may never recover. She purposely shoved them as passed them, walking into her next class angrily.

This was her fault. If she had been more alert that day, Carlos would be at school instead of suffering in the hospital. Gina let her guard down and her friend paid the price. All she could _think_ about was Carlos and how bad he looked after he took the Venom. The thought of him turning into the same monster Bianca did sent chills down Gina’s spine. Her nightmares were filled with Carlos being taken over by the Venom and killing all of their friends, and all Gina could do was sit back and watch. She can’t even remember the last time she got a full night of sleep.

The day seemed to drag on and all Gina wanted was for school to end so she could go back to focusing on helping Carlos. All of her friends noticed she seemed off and assumed it was because of Carlos, but Nini, Kourtney, and Big Red knew it was more than that. They stayed by Gina’s side the entire day. When they couldn’t, they would text Gina in between classes to make sure she was okay. Nini was the most consistent out of the trio, practically refusing to let gina out of her sight. 

Right now, Nini was the only thing keeping Gina from completely losing it.

Lunchtime eventually rolled around but it was uncharacteristically quiet at their table while everyone else around them was loud and still talking about Carlos, much to Gina’s annoyance. Nini held her hand under the table the entire time, squeezing it gently to offer some comfort.

“Why can’t people mind their fucking business?” EJ snapped.

“Just ignore them,” Big Red muttered.

“It’s hard to do that when they’re practically yelling about Carlos,” the senior deadpanned. 

“Hopefully they’ll find something else to talk about,” Ricky assured.

EJ sighed in frustration but didn’t say anything else. A group of football jocks walked into the cafeteria, laughing obnoxiously. Tyler, the captain, spotted the table they were sitting at and smirked. He walked over with his friends right behind him and Gina felt her spider-sense go off slightly. Everyone except Gina jumped when Tyler slammed his hands on the table.

“Aw? Missing your little friend today?” he mocked.

“Shut the fuck up,” Kourtney hissed.

He leaned towards her. “What? You going to make me?”

“Can you just leave us alone?” Nini snapped.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Tyler asked. His friends laughed behind him and Gina’s grip on Nini’s hand tightened. 

“It’s nice without him here if I’m being honest. He was always loud and talking about shit no one cared about,” he added with a smirk on his face.

Gina slammed her hands on the table. Nini grew worried when she saw the slight crack form from the impact. Tyler’s smirk grew at the sight.

“Something wrong Porter?”

She got up and stood right in front of Tyler. Her anger grew when he moved closer towards her, not looking intimidated at all. Gina knew she shouldn’t let what he was saying get to her, but she couldn’t help it. Carlos wasn’t even here to defend himself and after everything, Gina felt it was her responsibility to protect him. She couldn’t do it before but she could do it now. 

“You’re an insensitive jerk with one functioning brain cell,” Gina deadpanned.

“Gi-”

“Carlos is in the _hospital_ and you really have the fucking nerve to disrespect him like this? I knew you were an asshole, but this is a new low.”

The entire cafeteria went silent. Tyler’s jaw clenched and Gina felt slightly satisfied that he was affected by her words. He laughed quietly and crossed his arms, trying to compose himself.

“I honestly don’t care what you or anyone thinks of me,” Tyler spat, his friends making noises of agreement behind him. “Carlos not being here is the best thing to happen at this damn school. I don’t know _who_ told him he was important or cool but they need a reality check. He and anyone in the shitty theatre department are the worst people to exist. Even Spider-Woman herself doesn’t think he’s worth saving. Sure she’s a wanted felon or whatever but she still has a job to do doesn’t she? But I guess Carlos didn’t make the cut-”

Gina was punching Tyler across the face before she could even think about it. Everyone gasped in shock as he fell to the ground. His friends charged towards Gina but she easily shoved them out of the way. She bent down and grabbed the front of Tyler’s shirt, forcing him to face her before punching him again. Gina saw red and continued to hit him as tears formed in her eyes. Students around her were going crazy and yelling, but Gina blocked all of them out.

Carlos got hurt because she wasn’t careful. She _knew_ that. But he was worth saving, just like anybody else. Tyler didn’t even realize that he hit every single insecurity that was brewing inside of Gina’s mind. She can’t even remember the last time she went out as Spider-Woman. The police were constantly after her because of Harry and she couldn’t do her job. How many people have died because she wasn’t out there? How many more people were suffering just like Carlos?

Tears started to fall down Gina’s face and she sobbed quietly, her punches starting to lose their strength. She felt someone come up behind her and wrap their arms around her waist. Gina didn’t even try to fight back. She turned around and saw it was EJ who was looking down at her in concern. She collapsed into his arms and broke down, clutching the front of his shirt tightly. EJ frowned and pulled her away from the crowd, hugging her tightly. He didn’t say anything and rubbed her back comfortingly, trying to get Gina to calm down. Ricky walked over to them and joined in on the hug. He kissed Gina’s forehead and held her tightly.

“What the _hell_ is going on here?”

Everyone turned around as Principal Gutierrez walked in with Mr. Mazzara right behind him. The crowd of students cleared and Gina felt her heart stop. She had a full view of Tyler and she had to fight the urge not to throw up. Kourtney, Big Red, and Nini were hovering over him and looking at his injuries. Tyler’s nose was broken and it looked deformed. There was blood all over his face from his nose and he had a black eye. His lip was split and his entire face looked swollen. Gina looked down at her hands and started to tremble when she saw they were covered in blood. Her breath started to pick up and tears blurred her vision.

What did she just do?

“I’ll get the nurse,” Mr. Mazzara said before running out of the cafeteria.

“What happened? Who did this?” Principal Gutierrez demanded.

No one spoke. Nini glanced over at Gina, frowning when she saw how much the other girl was shaking. She gave Big Red and Kourtney a look before standing up and walking towards her. Ricky and EJ took the hint and let Gina go. Nini gently held the other teen’s hands in her.

“Gina, you need to breathe,” she said quietly.

“I can’t,” Gina replied as her voice shook.

“You _need_ to.” Gina shook her head and kept her gaze on Tyler. Nini quickly moved over blocked him from her view. She let go of Gina’s hands and cupped her face, forcing the teen to look at her. 

“Focus on me,” Nini demanded. “Don’t look at Tyler. He’s going to be fine, okay? Just look at me and _breathe_.” Gina took a shaky breath, finding it easier to breathe when Nini leaned her forehead against hers. She was eventually able to calm herself down but made no move to lean away from Nini.

“Someone better tell me what happened in here before I start handing out detentions,” Principal Gutierrez snapped. 

Gina froze. “I have to tell him.”

“ _No_ ,” Nini argued.

“I did this-”

“And if you come forward he’s going to ask questions. Questions that you can’t answer unless you want your identity exposed. Everyone saw what just happened and if you say something, they’ll tell him what they saw,” Nini said firmly, cutting Gina off.

“But-”

“Just let us handle this.” Before she could argue again, Gina noticed Big Red stand up. He gulped nervously as Principal Gutirrez stared him down.

“It was me. Tyler started making fun of me and I lashed out,” Big Red lied.

Tyler’s friends moved forward to say something, but with one glare from Kourtney they immediately stood down. Principal Gutierrez scoffed and looked the teen up and down. “ _You_ got into a fight?”

“I can be aggressive,” Big Red defended. 

Principal Gutierrez rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything else. They moved out of the way when the nurse ran in with Mr. Mazzara following her. They helped Tyler up and led him down to the nurses’ office. Big Red grabbed his bag, giving Gina a reassuring smile as he followed Principal Gutierrez to his office. She pulled away from Nini and stormed out of the cafeteria, ignoring the hurt look on the other girl’s face. The bell rang for last period but Gina ignored it. She almost broke the door to the entrance of the school when she pushed it open, but Gina couldn’t bring herself to care. 

“Gina hold on!”

Nini grabbed her wrist, flinching away when Gina yanked it back violently. “Go _away_ Nini.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Nini demanded. “We still have one class left.”

“Does it look like I care?” Gina snapped, throwing her hands in the air. “I have bigger things to fucking worry about.”

“Like I don’t know that?” Nini shot back, moving to stand right in front of the other girl. “I know you’re worried about Carlos. We all are Gina. But what you did to Tyler was way too far. You could’ve-”

“-killed him?” Gina interrupted as her voice shook.

“That’s not what I was-”

“You didn’t have to. I can see it on your face.” 

Nini reached out but Gina shook her head and moved away. She knew Nini was right. She lost control and could’ve hurt Tyler a lot worse than she did. But the memory of Tyler lying on the floor unmoving made Gina want to throw up.

“I’m tired of this. I tired of Oscorp. I’m tired of Harry. I’m tired of lying, and most of all? I’m tired of Spider-Woman,” Gina said shakily. “I couldn’t save Carlos. Spider-Woman wasn’t _there_ to save him. Who knows how many more people I couldn’t save because Spider-Woman didn’t show up? Harry took that away from me, just like he’s taking away all the people I care about.”

“Gina-”

“This ends _now_. If I have to kill Harry to save everyone, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

She glared at Nini one last time and storming away. Gina didn’t make it very far before Nini composed herself and ran in front of her, refusing to let her pass. 

“You’re not a killer Gina,” she said firmly.

“That’s not what you were saying before.”

“Just listen to me!” Nini snapped as her anger grew. “Don’t you get it? This is what Harry wants! You can’t let him get to you like this. He wants you to be like him. He’s taking away everything you care about to drive you into this rage. But this isn’t _you_ Gina. You can’t just go storming into Oscorp and expect to leave without a plan!”

“Watch me,” Gina hissed.

“I’m not going to stand here and watch you ruin yourself!” Nini shouted, tears of frustration forming in her eyes. “You’re Spider-Woman, with or without the mask. Harry can’t take that away from you no matter how hard he tries. The only way we can help Carlos and stop Harry is if we work together and come up with a plan. No one has to die in order to do that. I know you’re angry, but killing isn’t the answer. Deep down, you know that.”

Gina clenched her fists tightly and resisted the urge to scream. “You don’t understand. None of you do.”

“I know that,” Nini said gently, moving closer towards the other girl. “The only thing I can do is try to understand and be there for you. But the one thing I _do_ understand is that the person I’m talking to right now isn’t the Gina I know.”

She hesitated before wrapping her arms around Gina’s waist and hugging her. Nini sighed in relief when the taller teen melted into her embrace. Gina rested her head on top of Nini’s and closed her eyes tightly, trying to hold onto this moment of peace.

Just for a _moment_ , she wanted to pretend everything was okay.

They don’t know how long they stood there in each other’s arms, but it was long enough when they heard the bell ring, signaling the end of the day. Gina sighed, knowing the moment was over. Students started leaving the school but she made no move to let go of Nini.

“I’m so fucked up,” she muttered.

“It’s okay,” Nini assured. “Today was a lot.”

“You should’ve let me tell Principal Gutierrez the truth.” She pulled away from Gina gave her a knowing look. “You and I both know that was never a possibility. Big Red has never gotten in trouble before so he won’t get into too much trouble. Don’t worry about it now. Tyler’s going to be fine. No offense, but he did deserve that first punch.”

A small smile formed on Gina’s face and she chuckled. Nini reached up and cupped Gina’s face, pulling her down and kissing her forehead gently. “Miss Jenn said Kourtney didn’t need to stay after school to work on costumes today, so you guys can look into figuring out how to help Carlos and finding the Vulture. I’ll check on Big Red to make sure Gutierrez didn’t kill him and we’ll meet up with you guys after rehearsal.”

A small blush formed on Gina’s face and she nodded. Nini smiled, hugging her one last time before walking back into the school. Kourtney walked out of school at the same time, waving at Nini as she approached Gina. She wrapped her arm around the younger girl’s shoulders and led her towards the parking lot.

“You okay?” she asked gently.

“I’m better,” Gina replied. “I said a lot of stupid things.”

“We all do from time to time. Big Red on the other hand only says stupid things.” Gina snorted, trying to hide her smile. They reached Kourtney’s car and got in. 

“Did Ricky and EJ say anything?” Gina asked.

“They were just worried,” Kourtney assured as she started her car. “They didn’t suspect anything. EJ was acting like a worried mother.”

Her phone went off and she checked it, smiling slightly when she saw texts from Ricky and EJ. Gina texted them back as Kourtney pulled out of the school parking lot. The ride to Gina’s house was a quiet one, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. When they got there, Gina frowned when she noticed her mom’s car was in the driveway. Her breath hitched when her spider-sense went off. Things with her mom lately weren’t bad, just weird. After they hugged and cried the night Carlos went to the hospital, her mom disappeared for a day and came back as if nothing ever happened. 

Gina hated to admit it, she didn’t feel comfortable around her mom. But the most frustrating part was that she didn't even know _why_.

“Can we please do this at your place instead?” Gina asked.

“My sister is home and she can be nosy as hell,” Kourtney warned.

“I don’t care,” Gina replied immediately. Kourtney narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat. “We’re not leaving until you tell me why we can’t do what we need to here.”

“You know things with my mom have been weird,” Gina replied. “I just don’t want to be home with her around. My spider-sense keeps going off and I’d rather not-”

“ _What_?” Kourtney asked in disbelief. “Your spider-sense has been going off around your mom?”

The younger teen winced, cursing silently for letting that slip out. Kourtney drove away and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” she demanded.

“It’s not that big-”

“Yes it _is_ Gina! You shouldn’t feel like you’re danger when you’re around your mom!” Kourtney snapped.

Gina groaned and ran her hands over her face. “Maybe Oscorp is watching her more closely than I thought. I don’t _know_. But it’s hard to keep an eye on her when she’s barely home in the first place!”

She noticed the skeptical look on the other girl’s face and frowned. They got to Kourtney’s house and walked inside, greeting her mom and sister before going into her room. Gina sat on the bed as Kourtney closed the door. Her spider-sense went off slightly when Kourtney still stood at the door with her back facing her.

“Kourt?” Gina asked hesitantly. 

She turned around and smiled, but Gina could tell she was faking it. Kourtney took off her backpack and started to rummage through it to get her laptop.

“Big Red and I have been finding new sightings of the Vulture and we narrowed it down to three locations,” Kourtney said. “We also wrote down all the symptoms Carlos has so we can try and figure out-”

“What’s wrong?” Gina asked.

“I’m fine-”

“Bullshit.” Kourtney found her laptop but refused to make eye contact with the other girl. She sat down on the floor in front of the bed and opened her laptop, trying silently.

“Kourt please,” Gina begged quietly. 

She stopped typing and sighed. “We already have enough on our plate and I don’t want to stress you out even more. It’s stupid anyway. So can we please just focus on finding the Vulture and helping Carlos?”

Gina wanted to argue, but she knew now was not the time. Kourtney took that as her answer and got up. She sat next to Gina on the bed and showed her all the information they had so far on her laptop. They talked for hours, Nini and Big Red coming in later to join them. The entire time they were doing this, Kourtney watched Gina with a frown on her face.

For once in her life? She wanted to be wrong about what she was thinking.

\---

“What do you _mean_ you don’t know what’s wrong with him?”

“Seb-”

“This is your fucking job! Shouldn’t you know everything?!?!”

“ _Seb_.”

Mrs. Rodriguez gently pulled the teen away from the doctor. He sat in the chair next to Carlos’s bed and hid his face in his hands, trying not to cry again. Mr. Rodriguez walked over to him and rubbed his back comfortingly. 

“We’ve run all the tests that we could, but his symptoms keep changing and we can’t pinpoint the problem,” the doctor explained. 

“Is there anything you can give him so he isn’t in so much pain?” Mrs. Rodriguez asked desperately. 

Carlos whined in his sleep, moving around the bed frantically. His veins were a disturbing green color and he was sweating profusely. Seb started crying as he watched him, wishing there was something he could do to help him.

“We can try to give him some antibiotics, but I can’t promise it’ll work. Nothing we give him helps,” the doctor replied.

“Just do it. Please.” He nodded and walked out of the room. Mrs. Rodriguez walked over to the bed as tears flowed down her face. Carlos was getting worse as time went on, and the looming fear of what could happen to him weighed heavily on her shoulders. Her husband’s phone went off and he sighed in annoyance.

“The babysitter needs to go home,” he muttered.

“Now?” Mrs. Rodriguez asked. “Tell her-”

“I’ll stay,” Seb offered, cutting her off. “You guys go. I wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.”

Mrs. Rodriguez didn’t want to leave, but Carlos wasn’t her only child. She kissed Carlos on the forehead and hugged Seb before leaving with her husband. Seb held Carlos’s hand in his, frowning when he felt how much the other teen was shaking.

“You’re going to be fine,” he assured as his voice shook, but Seb knew he was saying that more to comfort himself.

Someone walked into the room and Seb didn’t bother to turn around, assuming it was the doctor with the antibiotics. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when the doctor didn’t say anything. Before Seb could turn around, he felt something prick the back of his neck. His vision blurred and he gasped when he was shoved out of the chair he was sitting in. Seb groaned as he saw a person looming over Carlos, but his limbs felt too heavy to move. The last thing he saw before he passed out was a pair of glowing green eyes.

\---

Gina ran around her room in a frenzy. She started to move faster when he heard Ricky honk his from outside. Her mom leaned against the doorway of her room with a small smile on her face.

“Can’t find what you’re looking for in your organized chaos?” her mom teased.

She frowned when her daughter ignored her and continued to rummage through her room. Gina tried to ignore the hurt look on her mom’s face as she continued to search her room. She couldn’t help but think about the day she left for the Oscorp trip. Things between Gina and her mom were fine, and she was still a normal teenager. But now? She had a city to save and she couldn’t even look her mom in the eye. Her spider-sense was acting up, and it only got worse when she remembered the look on Kourtney’s face when she found out about this. Gina sighed in relief when she finally found her card for Carlos. She offered her mom a strained smile before running outside and getting into Ricky’s car.

EJ came up with the idea for everyone to visit Carlos at the hospital before rehearsal after school. Everyone made cards and Nini told everyone she would get flowers. Gina smiled at EJ who was sitting in the passenger’s seat of Ricky’s car. Kourtney was giving Nini and Big Red a ride, but only so they could talk about the progress of the anti-venom serum for Carlos in private.

“Have you guys heard anything from Seb?” Gina asked.

“No, but he’ll probably be there already,” Ricky replied as he started to drive.

“We haven’t heard anything from Carlos’ parents either. I don’t blame them though, this is really stressful,” EJ added.

Gina frowned and leaned back in her seat. She knew Seb was just as worried as Carlos, but it wasn’t like him to go radio silent. Dread settled in her stomach when her spider-sense grew more intense the closer they got to the hospital. Gina felt like her head was going to explode when they pulled into the parking lot, police cars surrounding the building. 

_No_. 

She didn’t even wait for Ricky to stop driving before she ran out of the car and into the hospital. Gina ignored everyone yelling at her and kept running. She shoved anyone who was in her path away, not caring how much strength she was using. Gina finally made it to Carlos’s room and stood in the doorway as she tried to catch her breath. She gasped and covered her mouth at the sight of the empty hospital bed. Tears formed in her eyes and she fell to her knees, her entire body shaking. 

Her friends caught up, freezing at what they saw. Nini immediately pulled Gina into her arms, trying to hold back her own tears. Seb was in the corner of the room with a blanket wrapped around him. Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez stood near the hospital bed, holding onto each other as they sobbed loudly. A police officer was talking to Seb, but it was clear that he wasn’t listening to anything they were saying. Kourtney wiped her tears and quietly asked the officer to give them a moment. When they walked away, Kourtney kneeled in front of Seb and held his hands gently.

“What happened?” she asked.

Seb didn’t have any emotion in his voice as he spoke. “I was here alone with Carlos. Someone came into the room and I blacked out. When I woke up, he was gone.”

Kourtney nodded as she took in his words. She pulled Seb into a hug but he didn’t reciprocate it. He was still in a state of shock, a haunted look in his eyes. Gina felt like she couldn’t breathe. She didn’t want to believe it. She _couldn’t_. It wasn’t a mystery who did this. Oscorp and Harry were always one fucking step ahead of her. But in the end, it didn’t matter. Gina wasn’t there to protect Carlos, and now he was in more danger because of her carelessness. 

She had failed. _Again_.

Everyone in the room gathered into a group hug, Seb in the middle of it. The police officer watched them from outside the room with a sympathetic expression on their face. Tears started to fall down Seb’s face as everything finally set in. He sobbed loudly, practically collapsing into the arms of his friends. 

“He’s _gone_.”


	17. the kidnapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if she couldn’t even protect her friends, how could Gina expect herself to get rid of Oscorp for good?
> 
> What kind of superhero was she?
> 
> tw// intrusive thoughts, blood & fatal injury

“Gina, you need to calm down.”

“You can’t be fucking serious. The _last_ thing we should be is calm right now!”

Big Red sighed and ran his hands over his face as Gina continued to glare at him. It’s only been a day since Carlos has gone missing, and everything was a mess. Seb couldn’t even say anything without bursting into tears. Ashlyn promised to look after him, pushing aside her own worry for Seb’s sake. Big Red and Kourtney didn’t bother trying to track Carlos down. They already knew Oscorp was behind this. Now it was a matter of who would make the first move. 

Leaving the hospital wasn’t easy. Gina refused to leave, keeping her eyes trained on Carlos’s empty hospital bed. She knew her first response should’ve been to ask questions. She was Spider-Woman, not some random civilian. But Gina couldn’t bring herself to move. A small part of her hoped that this was just a nightmare and when she woke up, Carlos would be back. But the sight of yellow police tape around the room crushed that possibly, reminding Gina of the reality of the situation. 

If it wasn’t for Nini, she would’ve never left. 

Tears gathered in her eyes when Nini hugged her from behind, kissing her shoulder softly. “We need to go.”

The questions her mom asked when she got home were left unanswered. Gina shoved past her harshly and stormed upstairs, ignoring the hurt look on her mom’s face. She didn’t bother to change into her pajamas and just took off her sneakers, laying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression on her face. 

Gina didn’t sleep. She _couldn’t_.

All she could think about was Carlos, and her guilt only grew as her mind continued to wander. She knew Harry was willing to do anything to get what he wanted. Unlike her, he didn’t care about anyone except himself. Oscrop has been watching her friends from the beginning and she tried her best to keep track of everyone and make sure they were safe. But, of course, Harry was one step ahead of her. 

Maybe she couldn’t protect Carlos, but Gina knew damn well she was going to save him. 

Her alarm clock went off and she slammed the snooze button harshly. She wasn’t even phased by her lack of sleep and got up, her now broken alarm sitting on her dresser. Gina checked her phone, holding it tightly when a news article about Harry was in her notifications. She read over her texts, seeing all of her friends agreed taking the day off from school was probably for the best. A wave of guilt washed over her at the thought of how Seb was coping, the broken expression on his face engraved in her memory. 

_He’s gone_

Gina put on her suit, texting Big Red she was on her way before climbing out of her window and swinging away. The police were still after her and were patrolling the entire city, but Gina couldn’t bring herself to care. She was done being careful. If the police were watching her, that meant Oscorp was watching her too. Harry wanted her to hide and Gina refused to give him that satisfaction. She finally made it to Big Red’s house, looking around to make sure she wasn’t followed. Gina walked towards the back of the house and knocked on the basement window, startling Big Red who was sitting on his bed.

“Are you insane?” he hissed, opening the window. “The police are on a witch hunt trying to find you and you thought it would be a good idea to go out as Spider-Woman? What if you were followed?”

Gina rolled her eyes and crawled into the basement. “I wasn’t followed, alright? You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard you say. This isn’t _nothing_ Gina!”

Their argument only escalated from there. 

Gina considered Big Red to be one of the nicest people she knew. Ever since he found out she was Spider-Woman, he’s been nothing but supportive. But now? Gina was resisting the urge to punch him across the face. Big Red kept ranting about being more cautious and it only made Gina angrier. They couldn’t keep hiding away any more, not when Carlos was in the hands of Oscorp. 

“We need to do something. _Now_ ,” Gina snapped. “This isn’t the time to be careful!”

“Do you hear yourself right now?” Big Red demanded. “We can’t just go storming into Oscorp without a plan!”

“Watch me.”

“You’re being an idiot!”

Gina clutched her mask tightly and walked right in front of the shorter teen, poking his chest harshly. “ _I’m_ the idiot? I don’t know if you remember, but our friend was taken away by one of the most dangerous companies in the damn _country_! They kill anyone who steps out of line. So what makes you think Carlos is the exception?”

“Yes, you _are_ the idiot! I want to save Carlos just as much as you do, but we can’t just rush in!”

“For the last time: we don’t have the time to sit down and figure things out anymore! I don’t care what it takes. I’m saving Carlos and taking Oscorp down, even if I have to do it by myself. You want a plan? Fine. I’m storming into Oscorp and beating the living shit out of Harry. Take it or leave it.”

Big Red didn’t say anything. Gina turned away from him, refusing to let him see the frustrated tears forming in her eyes. The rational part of her knew Carlos was still alive. Harry needed him as leverage for whatever he was planning, and even if he was insane, he wasn’t stupid either. That didn’t stop Gina from fearing the worst, especially since Carlos was struggling with the Venom. The more time she spent sitting around and arguing with Big Red, the less time she had to save Carlos. 

“I’m going,” she said firmly. “We’ve wasted enough time.”

Big Red grabbed her wrist tightly, stopping her. “ _No_.”

“You can’t stop me. I’m stronger than you,” Gina threatened, pulling her wrist out of his grip with a glare. 

“That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try,” Big Red shot back. 

Before she could say anything else, her spider-sense went off. Gina turned towards the stairs, groaning when she saw Kourtney and Nini standing there. Kourtney looked angry while Nini offered an awkward smile.

“Of course you called them,” Gina muttered. “Whatever. I’m still going.”

“That’s funny,” Kourtney deadpanned, walking down the stairs and standing in front of Gina. “Sit down. You need to cool off.”

“You can’t be serious-”

“Gina, please sit down.”

Her breath hitched when Nini spoke. Whatever argument Gina had went away as soon as she looked into the other girl’s eyes. Nini took Kourtney’s place in front of her, grabbing Gina’s hands and holding them gently. She felt a weight lift off her shoulders and took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself down. Kourtney and Big Red gave each other a knowing look when Nini guided Gina over to Big Red’s bed, pulling her down to sit. 

“You need to relax,” Nini murmured, reaching out to brush Gina’s hair out of her face.

Gina’s face flushed at the attention, her heart beating faster when Nini squeezed her hands encouragingly. The teens sat in a tense silence, the urgency of the situation weighing down on them. 

“Still want to run into Oscorp guns blazing?” Big Red asked sarcastically. 

Kourtney elbowed him harshly. “Shut up. Seriously.”

“And what if I do?” Gina shot back.

“Guys, this isn’t the time to fight,” Nini scolded, glaring at the both of them.

“Then tell her to stop being stubborn!”

“Then tell _him-_ ”

“Oh my god _ENOUGH_!”

They all reeled back at the anger in Kourtney’s voice. She got up and stood in front of the group, narrowing her eyes. “Both of you are right, okay? Big Red, we can’t sit around and wait any longer. We need to save Carlos as soon as possible. Hiding away and trying to avoid the police and Oscorp isn’t an option anymore. _But_ , that doesn’t mean we still don’t need a plan.”

Gina and Big Red went to protest but stopped when Kourtney glared at them. 

“Red, I know you mean well, but we can’t play it safe anymore. If Harry is going to go this low and start hurting our friends? We need to take action. Gina, I understand that you’re angry. Trust me when I say we all are. Even so, we can’t let anger get the best of us. If we’re going to save Carlos, we need a plan so we can do it safely, get out of Oscorp and take Harry down as quickly as possible.”

“We’re all on the same team,” Nini added. “Everyone in this room wants to do the right thing. But we can’t do that if we’re not on the same page. So _please_ , stop fighting. The last thing we need right now is more conflict.”

Big Red huffed crossed his arms, keeping his gaze on the ground. Gina rolled her eyes at his dramatics but didn’t disagree. 

“Are we all in agreement?” Kourtney asked, looking at the two teens cautiously. 

“If we do this, we go tomorrow,” Gina replied. “I’m not waiting any longer.”

“Fair enough. Red?”

“Fine.”

Kourtney and Nini sighed in relief, but Gina wasn’t satisfied. Her spider-sense went off slightly as she looked at Big Red, eyeing him down suspiciously. 

“You’re still angry, aren’t you?” Gina accused.

Big Red just glared in response, giving the vigilante her answer. 

“What happened to no more fighting?” Kourtney demanded.

“Gina,” Nini warned.

She ignored both of them and stood up, leaning towards Big Red. “You’ve been off ever since I got here. If you have something to say, spit it out. What’s going on with you?”

“I’m scared. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Gina’s eyes went wide in surprise at his words. Kourtney and Nini stayed silent, looking at Big Red in concern. 

“Carlos could be dead right now,” he continued, his voice shaking. “He could be dead and we wouldn’t even know it.”

“Don’t say that-” 

“It’s true and you damn well know it!” Big Red snapped, standing up and shoving Gina away. “Harry, the green goblin, whoever the fuck he is, has gone insane. What makes you think he’ll stop at Carlos? Even if we take him down, what makes you think we can do the same to Oscorp? They know everything about us and can still get revenge after all of this is over!”

“I won’t let that happen,” Gina argued.

“You let Carlos get taken away. How can I even _begin_ to trust you to keep that promise?”

_You killed me. You killed_ **_all_ ** _of us._

Gina stumbled back.

She grabbed her chest as her breathing started to pick up, closing her eyes tightly. She fell to her knees, the room spinning around her. The nightmares came back at full force, images of her friends laying dead on the ground flashing in her brain. Gina heard voices calling out to her but they sounded muffled. The only thing she could hear was her rapid breathing which only sent her further into a panic. 

Big Red had taken her biggest insecurity and thrown in right back in her face. The fact that he was right is what hurt the most.

She couldn’t stop Harry from hurting Ricky. Gina felt helpless watching her friend suffer, not knowing what to do. In the end, EJ and Ashlyn were the ones who helped Ricky. She couldn’t protect Carlos from being infected by the Venom serum or being taken away. The _one_ day Gina let her guard down, everything fell apart. Carlos was already vulnerable enough and she should’ve known better than to leave him alone in the hospital without any protection. 

Gina said it herself. Oscorp is one of the most dangerous companies in the country. Maybe she could defeat Harry, but an entire _company_? If she couldn't even protect her friends, how could Gina expect herself to get rid of Oscorp for good?

What kind of superhero was she?

She felt someone put their hands on her face and she tried to pull away, but whoever was holding her refused to let go. Gina felt her head start to spin as it got harder for her to breathe. 

_If you really cared about us, you should’ve left. The classic Porter disappearing act. You’ve done it a million times before, what’s so different now?_

Gina sobbed, her entire body trembling. The person holding her pressed their forehead against hers gently, wiping her tears away. 

“Gina, you trusted me once before. Remember? In the nurses’ office? I need you to do it again. I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, just listen to the sound of my voice. Whatever is going through your head isn’t true. Just focus on me.”

_It’s funny that you call me the villain when it’s really you_

“Come back to me. _Please_.”

She breathed.

Gina focused on the person’s voice, her panic subsiding the more they talked. Her vision cleared, feeling at ease when she saw it was Nini. She let the other girl pull her into a hug, melting in her embrace. Gina hid her face in Nini’s shoulder, her heart fluttering when she felt Nini’s kiss her forehead.

“Kourt, take Big Red upstairs for a second?”

Gina heard Big Red try to protest, but the sound of footsteps going up the stairs followed right after. She flinched when the door to the basement slammed shut and Nini held her tighter in response. 

“You’re okay,” she assured.

“I’m obviously not,” Gina muttered. She moved away from the other girl and leaned back on the end of Big Red’s bed, pulling her knees up into her chest. Nini sat beside her, their shoulders touching. 

“Big Red was out of line. He had no right to say that to you,” she snapped.

“He wasn’t out of line.”

Nini froze, looking at Gina in shock. The teen didn’t bother to meet her gaze and kept her eyes on her feet.

“No matter how hard I try, I screw up. I don’t deserve to call myself Spider-Woman, let alone a superhero. I’m a failure,” Gina whispered. “I can’t save anyone.”

“You saved me.”

Gina still didn’t look up. Nini placed a hand under her Gina’s chin and turned her face towards her. Gina was surprised to see the angry tears in the other girl’s eyes.

“The green goblin dropped me from the sky and you were there to catch me. When Bianca was infected with the Venom you were there to stop her from hurting me. You’re not a failure, Gina. I trust you with my life. You can’t keep holding yourself to this high standard of being a superhero. You’re just a kid,” Nini said fiercely. “You’re not alone in this. We’re going to save Carlos, stop Harry, and takedown Oscorp together.”

A small smile formed on her face. “You’re my hero.”

Gina was speechless. 

No matter how bad things got, Nini was always there. She was the only person who could get through to Gina and calm her down. Kourtney and Big Red were aware of her secret for a longer period of time, but even they could never fully get through to her.

Nini was her anchor. 

“How do you always know what to say?” Gina asked.

“I just say what feels right.”

They drifted closer to each other as they spoke. Gina reached out and pushed a strand of Nini’s hair behind her ear, smiling at the flustered expression on the other girl’s face.

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

Nin rolled her eyes fondly. “This coming from the girl who can scale up a skyscraper without breaking a sweat?” 

“I’m being serious. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten this far without you,” Gina admitted. “If I’m being honest, I can’t imagine doing this without you. You’re my rock.”

“You can’t just say stuff like that!” Nini squeaked, her face turning red. 

“I can if it’s the truth.”

“You’re unbearable.”

Gina leaned in with a smirk. “You still love me anyway, don’t you princess?”

“And what if I do?”

Gina froze. Nini played with her hands nervously, vulnerability shining in her eyes. Before she could say anything, Kourtney opened the basement door.

“You guys done getting lost in each other’s eyes?” she deadpanned. 

Both of them scrambled to stand up, blushing when Kourtney smirked. She grabbed Big Red’s wrist and pulled him back downstairs, lightly pushing him towards Gina. 

“I’m an asshole,” he muttered.

“You think?” Nini asked sarcastically.

Kourtney whacked her upside the head. Gina laughed and Nini blushed in embarrassment, silently cursing Kourtney out. Big Red smiled slightly at the exchange, but it quickly dropped when Gina faced him again.

“I was scared and I took it out on you. That doesn’t excuse what I said at all but I didn’t mean it. You’ve done nothing but protect us and the entire city,” he continued. “You’re right. We can’t keep hiding.”

“You were right too. We do need a plan,” Gina replied. “I know I haven’t been at my best, but I’m not going to stop until I know we’re completely safe.”

“Neither am I.”

Gina pulled him into a hug, motioning for Kourtney and Nini to join in. “Secret Spidey Quartet on three?”

“Enough with the nicknames,” Kourtney begged. 

She flipped him off when Big Red started to chant their team name at the top of his lungs. Nini covered her mouth to try and hide her amusement, blushing when she noticed Gina looking at her fondly. She swung an arm around Nini’s shoulders, holding her close.

“So do I, by the way,” Gina said, answering Nini’s question from before. “If you really do.”

“I-”

“Don’t say it out loud. Not yet.”

Nini hesitated but nodded in agreement. If they were going to confess, Gina wanted to wait until she knew everyone was safe.

Her love life could wait a little longer. 

Still, that didn’t stop her from kissing Nini’s cheek. Big Red called them over and Gina looked over his shoulder, smiling innocently when Kourtney glared at her. Nini approached the group eventually, fighting to control her blush. Big Red had the building layout of Oscorp on his laptop while Kourtney was trying to figure out how many workers were in each department.

“We have to do this at night. Not as many workers will be on duty and it gives us a better chance of making it out without any major issues,” Big Red explained. “They’re most likely holding Carlos in the lab since he still is under the influence of the Venom serum.”

“Do you think they’re running tests on him?” Nini asked.

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Kourtney replied angrily.

Gina leaned in to get a better look at the screen. “Maybe this could be a good thing.”

“Did you hit your head?” Big Red questioned.

“Hear me out, alright?”

The other teens went silent. “You guys weren’t able to figure out how to cure Carlos since this serum is different. But if they’re already running tests on him, we could use that information and make the cure there.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Kourtney complimented.

“Do you have that little faith in me?”

Big Red started circling areas on the layout, turning his laptop around to show everyone else. “If I can get into the computer room, I might be able to hack into their files and erase any vital information they have.”

“So you can shut them down?” Nini asked.

“If I have enough time, I think I can,” he confirmed.

“The only workers who are on duty at night are guards and some lab assistants,” Kourtney added.

Gina nodded as she processed everything, feeling a lot better than she did before. Nini reached out and held her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. 

They were going to do this.

“Alright, here’s the plan.”

\---

Ashlyn didn’t know how much more of this she could take.

She sighed as she flicked through TV channels, trying to find something worth watching. Seb was sitting next to her silently with an unreadable expression on his face. He hasn’t said a word or shown any emotion since Ashlyn came over. She tried to get Seb to talk but nothing seemed to work. Ashlyn knew Seb was worried about Carlos, they all were. But this was taking a huge toll on Seb, and she didn’t know how to help him. 

Ashlyn groaned and settled on Food Network. That quickly changed when a breaking news report interrupted the program.

_“There have been reports of Spider-Woman sightings this morning. She has yet to be charged for the murder of Todd Wilkins, the newly appointed CEO of Oscorp-”_

Seb turned off the TV, slamming the remote down on the table in front of the couch. Ashlyn jumped, her eyes widening in shock from his behavior.

“I’m taking a nap,” he muttered, standing up.

“Seb, can we please talk?” Ashlyn begged.

Seb turned around, anger burning in his eyes. “Talk about what? The fact that my boyfriend, who’s already sick, has gone missing and the police have given up after one day of searching?”

Ashlyn flinched back as his voice raised. Seb rarely got angry, so seeing him like this was extremely concerning. She didn’t understand why the police weren’t doing more, especially after seeing how seriously they took the situation the day Carlos went missing. Something about the entire situation wasn’t sitting right with Ashlyn, but she couldn’t figure it out.

“You can leave,” Seb snapped. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Too bad. I’m not going anywhere,” Ashlyn shot back. “You can go take your nap. I’ll still be here when you’re awake and ready to talk.”

He huffed and walked upstairs but didn’t tell her to leave again, so Ashlyn took that as a win. She sighed and took out her phone to try and call Kourtney again. It went straight to voicemail, just like the other five calls she made. Ashlyn frowned and sent her a quick text. She hasn’t been dating Kourtney for long, but before they dated, they were still close friends. Kourtney was never this secretive before. Ever since their trip to Oscorp, she hasn’t been acting the same. Ashlyn noticed Big Red also started acting strangely, along with Gina and Nini. She did scold Carlos for being too pushy when he was trying to figure out what was up with Gina, but she was starting to think he had a point. 

The doorbell rang, catching her attention. Ashlyn furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she opened the door, not expecting anyone. Her confusion quickly melted away when she saw it was EJ and she smiled, moving out of the way to let him in.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing here?” Ashlyn asked.

“I was running some errands and I wanted to stop by and check on Seb,” EJ replied. “I was at the supermarket and I saw the strawberry cheesecake ice cream he likes? I don’t even know if he would want it right now but I thought it could at least help a little bit.”

“He’s not in the best mood right now, but I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

Ashlyn put the ice cream in the freezer and EJ sat down on the couch. Her phone went off and she picked it up, relief washing over her seeing Kourtney had finally texted her back. That relief was short-lived and quickly turned into annoyance as Ashlyn read over her texts.

**ashlyn: is everything okay?**

**ashlyn: text we when u can**

**ashlyn: kourt?**

**ashlyn: could u come over to seb’s if u have a chance?**

**ashlyn: kourtney???**

**kourtney: everything is fine dw! i mean as fine as things could be rn i guess**

**kourtney: can’t talk rn but i’ll call u later <3**

Ashlyn glared at her phone and shoved it in her pocket aggressively. She stomped over to the couch and sat next to EJ, leaning against him with her arms crossed. He found her dramatics slightly amusing but kept that to himself, swinging an arm around her shoulders to offer some comfort. 

“I’m two seconds away from losing my shit,” Ashlyn deadpanned. 

“Aren’t we all?” EJ asked sarcastically. “What happened now?”

“Kourtney happened. I don’t know what’s going on with her anymore!” she replied, throwing her hands in the air and waving them around as she ranted. “I asked if she could come over and she completely avoided the question. Things are scary right now. We have no idea where Carlos is and the last thing any of us want to be is alone. You would think my girlfriend would at least show that she cares, but she’s too busy doing whatever she’s hiding from me!”

“Ash, Kourtney does care about you,” EJ argued gently.

“Doesn’t feel like it.”

Her cousin sighed and leaned further back into the couch. “I’m sure she’ll tell you what’s going on eventually. Mayne she’s just not ready to talk about it.”

“If Kourtney really wanted to tell me, she would’ve done it weeks ago. She hates keeping secrets,” Ashlyn argued. “I don’t know. Something feels off.”

EJ went to say something but was cut off by his phone ringing. He frowned when he answered the call and got up, sending Ashlyn an apologetic smile. EJ hung up and groaned, hitting his head against the door as he opened it.

“Who was that?” Ashlyn asked.

“My mom,” he replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance. “She asked me to pick up some stuff from the supermarket even though I was _just there_ and I asked her if she needed anything. _Several times_.”

“Do you have to go?”

“You know how impatient she gets,” EJ sighed. “Besides, I told Ricky I would be stopping by at his place anyway,”

Ashlyn pouted but didn’t protest any further. She watched EJ drive away before closing the door, narrowing her eyes suspiciously when she noticed a black truck following him. Ashlyn tried to shake it off when two cars followed right after, telling herself she was just being paranoid. She turned around, jumping when she saw Seb standing in the kitchen. She smirked at the sight of Seb eating from the ice cream EJ got for him. 

“What happened to your nap?”

Seb’s face turned red and he flipped her off. Ashlyn jumped up on the counter and leaned back, her legs swinging off the edge. “You ready to talk now?”

“Talking about it makes it feel real.”

He kept his focus on the ice cream, but Ashlyn could see the tears forming in his eyes. “I keep telling myself this is just some nightmare. He’s only been gone for a _day_ and I’m barely holding it together. I’ve been calling and texting his phone all day, hoping that he’ll respond and tell me that he’s okay.”

Seb let out a humorless laugh, wiping his tears away. “How stupid is that?”

“It’s not stupid,” Ashlyn assured. 

He put the ice cream down, looking at her with a hopeless expression on his face. “What if we never see him again?” 

Ashlyn pushed herself off the counter and pulled Seb into a hug, whispering reassurances in his ear. He collapsed in her arms as he sobbed, his entire body shaking. Ashlyn tried to hold back her own tears, holding Seb as tightly as she could. She wanted to stay optimistic for Seb’s sake, but Seb had just said what they were all thinking.

Carlos could be gone for good.

They don’t know who took him or what motive they had. The police had already given up, but even when they were looking into the case, they had nothing to go off of. Carlos vanished without a trace. Ashlyn felt dread settle over her at the memory of her last conversation with Carlos, remembering that they argued about the musical.

Was that the last memory she would ever have with him? 

“I never got to tell him I love him,” Seb whispered, his voice breaking.

Ashlyn didn’t know how to respond.

She continued to assure him that everything would be okay, but the more she repeated herself, the more it sounded like a lie. Seb held onto Ashlyn like a lifeline, his cries only getting worse as more time passed.

They were in their own world, unaware of the danger lurking outside. 

\---

“Red, I swear to god if you keep talking about ‘hacking the mainframe’-”

“It’s important to the operation!”

“That doesn’t mean we need an hour-long explanation of what computer hacking is!”

Gina groaned and threw herself on the ground as Kourtney and Big Red started to bicker again. It was already late and she just wanted the day to end so they could go through with their plan. Nini laid next to her, watching their friends bicker in amusement.

“I’m pretty sure the world is going to end the day they stop bickering,” she teased.

Gina smiled in response but didn’t say anything, her mind focused on Carlos. Nini noticed her silence and frowned, bumping her knee against Gina’s. “We’re going to save him.”

“I know.” Both of them knew she still didn’t completely believe it. 

Their plan was solid. Gina would take down the guards and go with Kourtney to get Carlos. She would keep watch while Kourtney put together an antidote for the Venom. Whenever Harry made an appearance, Gina would take him on alone. Nini and Big Red in the meantime will be in the computer lab trying to shut Oscorp’s main network down. They had gone over the plan several times and Gina knew it should be fine. But she still couldn’t get the lingering doubt out of her head. She turned to face Nini who was running a hand through her curls mindlessly. Gina felt her face heat up but made no move to stop her. 

She didn’t know what she would do if something happened to her friends during this mission.

If Gina could go by herself she would, but this was too big of a plan for her to get done on her own. She was more determined than ever to keep her friends safe, even if that meant giving up her own life. Gina turned on her side and moved closer towards Nini, startling the other girl. Her face flushed but she mirrored Gina, their faces inches apart.

Gina wasn’t going to let anything bad happen. Especially not to Nini.

“Promise me that if I tell you to leave, you will,” she whispered.

“Gi-”

“You have no idea how terrified I was when Bianca almost hurt you. I don’t want you to put yourself in dangerous situations when you don’t have to. So if I tell you to leave, please don’t argue.”

“I can’t promise you that,” Nini argued. “Bianca almost hurt me, but she almost _killed_ you. I don’t care how dangerous it is, I’m not leaving you alone.”

“I had to watch the green goblin drop you from the sky.”

Nini flinched at the memory. “Bianca was under the influence of the Venom serum. She wasn’t in control of anything she did. Harry and the green goblin are batshit crazy and he knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows how much you mean to me and won’t hesitate to use that against me. I refuse to let him hurt you again. So _please_ , just promise me.”

“Only if you promise you’ll come back to me.”

Both of them knew there was a possibility that wouldn’t happen, but they refused to say it out loud. Gina held out her pinky, a sad smile on her face. “Okay.”

Nini hesitated before linking her pinky with Gina’s. They laid on the ground in silence and stared at each other, trying to hold onto this last moment of peace. Gina leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Nini’s, their linked hands resting on the ground in between them. Nini took a shaky breath, closing her eyes tightly to stop herself from crying. Gina noticed her distress and used her free hand to cup Nini’s face, stroking her cheek comfortingly. She leaned into Gina’s hand and opened her eyes, smiling softly. 

The moment was broken when Kourtney’s phone starting to ring.

Gina and Nini reluctantly sat up, their pinkies were still linked. Big Red noticed but stayed silent, smiling to himself. That smile vanished when she saw the distressed state Kourtney was in. 

“Ash, I can barely understand what you’re saying. Take a second to breathe okay?”

Everyone immediately stood up. Nini wrapped an arm around Kourtney’s shoulders as she talked to Ashlyn, trying to figure out what was going on. Big Red stood in front of them, playing with his hands nervously. Gina turned away from the other teens, her eyes darting around the room as her spider-sense went off.

Something was wrong.

“Someone broke into Seb’s house?” Kourtney asked frantically.

“Multiple people did, and they’re still here,” Ashlyn whispered as her voice shook. “Seb called the police but at this point, I don’t think they’re coming.”

“Don’t move and stay on the phone. We’re coming to get you.”

Nini, Kourtney, and Big Red ran around the room to grab their stuff as they talked to Ashlyn over the phone. Gina stayed frozen in place, the intensity of her spider-sense sending sharp pains through her head. She ran her hands through her curls and yanked at them harshly, trying to think. Whoever broke into Seb’s house was obviously under Oscorp, but this isn’t the first time this happened. Harry sent some of his workers to break into Gina’s house to leave those photos behind. There had to be more to whatever Harry was trying to pull. Gina closed her eyes, trying to think. 

_I wouldn’t want to disappoint Ricky, now would I?_

Her eyes shot open.

“It’s a distraction.”

Her friends froze and turned to face her. “Harry is trying to trick us _again_ , just like he did at the coffee shop. He’s not after Seb and Ashlyn.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Kourtney argued.

Nini’s eyes went wide, realizing what the other teen was implying. “He’s after Ricky.”

Ricky and Carlos were Gina’s best friends, and Harry has targeted them from the beginning. He made Ricky miserable and created tension between her and Carlos. They were two of the most important people in Gina’s life and he _knew_ that. She looked at Nini, wondering if Harry was planning on sending someone after her next. 

“Even if it is a distraction, we can’t just leave them there,” Kourtney snapped. “I’m going.”

Big Red grabbed her arm before she could leave. “Are you crazy? This is Oscrop we’re talking about! They’re armed and even if this is a distraction, that doesn’t mean they won’t hurt us. You can’t go running in there by yourself!”

“My girlfriend needs me. So yeah, damn right I will.”

She pulled her arm back but Big Red blocked her path, refusing to move. They started arguing again and Nini stood in between them, trying to calm them down. Ashlyn was talking into the phone as Seb cried in the background, asking what was going on. Gina tuned them all out and clutched her head, her spider-sense going off at an intensity she never felt before. 

That’s when she heard the footsteps.

Gina turned towards the window in the corner of the basement, her heart dropping when she saw the feet of armed guards running towards the front of the house. The other teens stopped arguing at the sound of the front door breaking, fear settling over them. 

“Oh my god,” Big Red whispered in horror. 

Nini grabbed onto Gina’s arm, hiding her face in the taller teen’s shoulder. Gina moved back, pushing Big Red and Kourtney behind her as the footsteps of their attackers came closer towards the basement door. 

“We’re not going to make it to Ricky in time, are we?” Kourtney asked quietly.

No one responded.

Gina turned back to look at her friends, her anger growing seeing how scared they looked. Nini’s grip tightened on her arm, jumping when she heard a crash come from upstairs. Gina refused to let Harry win, not again. She wasn’t going to lose anyone else. Gina took a deep breath and pulled her mask over her head, her heart racing. She threw her free hand back towards Kourtney and Big Red who both held it, their hands shaking along with hers. 

Gina was done holding back. Harry hurt her friends and she was going to make him pay. 

The basement door broke open, and she sprung into action. 

\---

Ricky sighed as he read over the same line in his script for the tenth time. 

He eventually closed it and threw the script on his dresser, falling back on his bed and taking out his phone. Miss Jenn emailed everyone and said play rehearsals were on hold until further notice, and even if she tried to be professional in the email, Ricky could tell Carlos’s disappearance had taken a toll on her. He tried looking over the script to distract himself, but his mind kept wandering back to Carlos. It was bad enough to see him collapse in the coffee shop, but knowing that he was somewhere in the terrible condition that he was made Ricky want to scream. His nightmares about Harry were getting worse and Carlos going missing on top of it didn’t help his mental state at all. After weeks of fighting, Gina and Carlos finally made up only for things to fall apart again. Ricky didn’t understand why bad things kept happening to him and his friends.

Scrolling through his phone only increased his boredom. He frowned when he noticed EJ still didn’t respond to his text asking when he would be at his house which was unusual for him. Ricky just shrugged it off and turned off his phone, figuring that EJ’s mom still needed him. His stomach started growling and he threw his head back in annoyance, not wanting to get up. 

“Dad? I know you want to try and start cooking, but you almost burned down the house last week trying to make spaghetti and my stomach feels like it’s about to eat itself. Can we please just order takeout?” Ricky called. 

He was met with silence. 

Ricky furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and got up. He swore he heard his dad moving around the kitchen a couple of minutes ago. Ricky opened his door slightly, starting to get nervous.

“Dad?”

More silence. 

He took a shaky breath and walked downstairs, trying to calm himself down. His brain was just jumping to conclusions. His dad probably gave up on trying to cook and decided to order takeout like Ricky asked. He kept repeating these reassurances in his head as he approached the kitchen, trying to block out the memories of his nightmares. 

_You’re broken Bowen, and that’s all you’ll ever be._

“Dad?” Ricky asked urgently.

He froze when he heard a groan come from behind the counter. The kitchen was a mess, bowls and ingredients scattered everywhere. The lights were flickering ominously, which only made Ricky panic even more. Everything was reminding him of his nightmares and Ricky wanted to scream. His hands shook as he continued to walk, trying to swallow his fear. 

Nothing could’ve prepared him for what he saw. 

His dad was lying in a pool of blood on the floor, his entire body twitching as he gasped for air. A bullet wound was on the side of his neck and in his shoulder, both of them bleeding profusely. Ricky fell to his knees and crawled over to his dad, horror etched on his face. His hands were shaking even more as he tried to cover his dad’s wounds, tears blurring his vision.

“What _happened_?” 

Blood gurgled out of his dad’s mouth when he tried to speak and Ricky gagged, turning away. He urged his dad not to speak and pressed harder on his wounds, trying to stop any more blood from escaping. Ricky tried to keep it together for his dad’s sake, but he couldn’t stop the tears falling down his face. Never in his _life_ did he think he would be in this position, and he didn’t even know what caused it. It was a scene straight from his nightmares, but this was far worse than anything he could’ve ever imagined. 

What the hell did he do to deserve any of this?

“You’re going to be okay,” Ricky assured, his voice shaking. “Everything is going to be okay.”

He repeated those words like a prayer, pressing down harder on his dad’s wounds as more blood started to leak onto the floor. Ricky moved one of his hands away to grab his phone so he could call an ambulance, apologizing frantically when his dad groaned in protest. He quickly dialed 911, trying to ignore how his hands were covered in blood. His dad started to twitch even more and Ricky balanced his phone between his shoulder and his ear, pressing his hand back on the wound. 

“I wouldn’t bother. He’s going to be dead in a few minutes.”

Ricky’s phone fell to the ground.

The phone operator was speaking but Ricky couldn’t hear what they were saying, his ears ringing. He slowly turned around, a sob escaping from his throat at the sight of Harry’s green eyes glaring down at him. 

_No._

The taller teen walked over and bent down, waving a gun mockingly in Ricky’s face. “New prototype. When you shoot bullets, it doesn’t make a sound. I would say this was a pretty successful trial run.”

Ricky couldn’t bring himself to speak. He was _terrified_. 

His dad’s eyes went wide at the sight of Harry and his body started to convulse, startling Ricky. He tried to stabilize his dad and hold him down, but he refused to stay still. Harry laughed at the sight with a grin on his face, twirling his gun around like it was a toy. 

“Like I said Bowen, I wouldn’t bother. He’s as good as dead.”

“Shut _up_ ,” Ricky demanded forcefully. 

He cried out when Harry grabbed him by his hair, dragging him away from his dad. He was thrown against the wall behind him harshly, his head pounding. Harry slammed a hand next to Ricky’s head making the smaller teen flinch, his eyes filled with rage. 

“ _Never_ speak to me like that again,” he spat threateningly. “What? You finally grew a fucking spine?”

Ricky pressed himself into the wall as much as he could, trying to make himself smaller. He tried to glance over at his dad to check on his condition, but Harry grabbed his chin harshly and forced him to look into his eyes.

“I told you I wasn’t done. Remember?” Harry taunted. “All of this could’ve been avoided if you just _listened_ to me. I warned you multiple times what I would do if you told anyone the truth, but you _still_ decided to disobey me.”

Ricky was struggling to breathe. His eyes were blown wide in fear, his nightmares coming to life right before his eyes. He kept telling himself that he was being paranoid, that was was finally _safe_. But Harry was standing right in front of it, and he had just destroyed another part of Ricky’s life without batting an eye. He could hear his dad struggling, his breathing becoming more ragged as more time passed. Ricky felt helpless and shut his eyes tightly, not knowing what to do. His eyes shot back open when Harry leaned in close to his ear, stroking the side of Ricky’s face with his gun. 

“You’re dad is dying because of _you_. His blood is on your hands. If you were good enough, he wouldn’t even be in this position in the first place. You let him down. But that’s what you do best, isn’t it?”

He smirked when more tears flowed down Ricky’s face. “How many more people are you going to let down Bowen?”

“Get the hell off of me!”

Ricky looked over Harry’s shoulder, his heart sinking when EJ was dragged into the kitchen by two armed guards. The senior’s face paled at the sight of Mr. Bowen bleeding out on the floor. His eyes eventually landed on Ricky and he immediately started to fight back against the guards when he saw how close Harry was to him. 

“Stay the fuck away from him you psychopath!” EJ shouted. “I swear to god-”

“You’re calling _me_ the psychopath, but I’m not the one covered in blood.”

EJ didn’t falter. “He’s not the one holding the gun.”

Harry growled and moved away from Ricky, his body tense as he walked towards EJ. Ricky still couldn’t bring himself to move from the wall, trying not to vomit at the sight of his hands covered in his dad’s blood. He hesitated before looking over at his dad, his grip on the wall behind him tightening as he did.

He wasn’t moving. 

Ricky wrapped his arms around himself as sobs wracked his body. He called out for his dad desperately, his voice hoarse from how much he was screaming. Harry rolled his eyes at the sight while EJ started to cry and fought harder against the guards, trying to reach the other teen to comfort him. 

“Mom already left. You don’t get to leave too. I can’t do this alone dad _please_.”

Harry threw his head back dramatically and groaned, throwing an arm around EJ’s shoulders as if they were friends. “He’s so over-dramatic. How do you deal with him?”

“Fuck you,” EJ hissed venomously. 

“There’s no need for the harsh language,” Harry shot back in mock offense. “I’m just trying to have a civil conversation!”

“ _CIVIL_ ?” EJ roared. “You broke into Ricky’s house, shot his dad, sent a bunch of your guard dogs after me and you call that _civil_? You’re fucking insane.”

“Why would you do this?” Ricky whispered brokenly. “ _Why_?”

Harry laughed. 

His laugh sent a chill down Ricky’s spine, flinching when the taller teen leaned against EJ as he laughed harder. That’s when he noticed how different Harry looked. His facial features were harsher and his teeth were sharp, similar to the teeth of a beast. He looked bigger and more menacing, his veins glowing green along with his eyes. Ricky’s breath caught in his throat when Harry looked into his eyes, coming to a realization. 

“You figured it out,” he accused, startling Ricky. “Go ahead Bowen. Say it.”

His chest felt tight as Harry’s eyes bore into him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. 

“ _SAY IT_!”

“You’re the green goblin.”

A sinister grin formed on Harry’s face. “Took you long enough. Guess you’re not as dumb as you look.”

His heart started to pound when Harry pressed the gun under EJ’s chin. The senior sent him a reassuring smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Even if he didn’t show it, he was just as scared as Ricky was. 

But if it weren’t for him, EJ wouldn’t be in this position in the first place. 

“I’m feeling generous, so I’m going to give you two choices. Either you come with me without resisting, or your boyfriend loses his head,” Harry said casually. “So what’ll it be?”

“I-”

“You wouldn’t want to be responsible for the death of two people, would you?”

Ricky was moving before his brain could comprehend what was happening. He could hear EJ protesting but he ignored him, stopping in front of Harry. Ricky looked back at his dad who still laid unmoving on the ground. 

He couldn’t handle losing someone else he loved. 

Harry let go of EJ and pushed the gun under Ricky’s chin, using it to force the younger teen to look him in the eyes. “Good choice.” 

Ricky’s body sagged in defeat as more tears escaped from his eyes. He was so _tired_. He would never say it out loud, but a small part of him wished Harry would just pull the trigger. 

He didn’t want to feel anymore. 

\---

Gina only fought against their intruders for half an hour, but it felt like a lifetime. 

They were trained and way more experienced in fighting than Gina was, but she was faster and stronger. She let all of her pent up rage out as she fought, not feeling any remorse for the pain she was causing. Kourtney, Big Red, and Nini hid in the corner behind Big Red’s desk, watching her in awe. Gina fought like she danced, both graceful and powerful as she moved. She jumped out of the way as the last guard standing tried to cut her with their knife. Gina flipped back towards them and balanced herself on one hand, swinging her legs around his neck before pulling the guard towards the ground. Their head hit the floor hard from the momentum, knocking them out. Gina sighed in relief and stood up, looking around at all of the fallen bodies around her. Big Red was the first to approach her, groaning when he saw how messy his room was from the commotion.

“My parents are going to kill me,” he whined. 

“We were attacked and _that’s_ what you’re focused on?” Kourtney deadpanned. 

Nini was the last to join the group, an unreadable emotion in her eyes and she stared at Gina. The taller teen was glad that she still had her mask on because her face was heating up from the intensity of Nini’s gaze. She went to say something but paused when she heard the static of a walkie talkie. Gina pulled off her mask and looked around, trying to find the source. Her eyes landed on the last guard she took out and bent down to grab the device. 

“We’re moving out now. I repeat, we’re moving out. Boss got what he wanted and we’re headed back to base.”

The walkie talkie broke in Gina’s hand. 

“I think the guys are leaving?” Ashlyn said in confusion, still on the phone with Kourtney. “What the hell is happening?” 

“Stay where you are just in case, I’ll be there soon,” Kourtney assured. 

Gina stood up and turned to face the other teens. “You guys go make sure Ashlyn and Seb are okay. If I hurry I could still make it to Ricky.” 

Big Red and Kourtney nodded and got ready to leave, but Nini looked hesitant. Gina didn’t have time to ask what was wrong and ran towards the stairs. She was quickly stopped by Nini’s hand on her arm. 

“I need to go-”

“What about your mom?”

Gina froze. 

She noticed Kourtney slowed down as she moved around the room after Nini’s words. Her conversation with Kourtney in her car was still fresh in her mind, but she didn’t have the time to dwell on that. Gina knew things with her mom have been weird, but she’s been so worried about keeping her friends safe, she forgot about the only family she had left. Guilt crawled up her throat and she gripped the railing of the stairs tightly, the wood cracking under her hand.

“I’ll stop by my house to check on my mom, and then I’m going straight to Ricky’s,” Gina corrected, her voice strained. 

“I’m coming with you.”

“Nini-”

“I won’t stand in your way. But we should stay in pairs right now, and I don’t want to leave you alone.”

Gina didn’t bother to argue, silently relieved that the other girl would be by her side. Big Red and Kourtney followed them out, wishing each other luck before going their separate ways. Gina pulled her mask on and wrapped an arm around Nini’s waist, holding her close. Her eyes went wide when Gina aimed a web at a street pole. “Wait we could just drive-”

Nin screamed when they launched off of the ground, throwing her arms around Gina’s shoulders and hiding her face in her neck. It didn’t take long to get to her house, much to Nini’s relief. They landed but still made no move to let go of each other. Gina saw the door was unlocked and grew uneasy, her spider-sense going off rapidly. She pushed the door open and walked inside, motioning for Nini to stay behind her. 

“Mom?” Gina called, taking off her mask. “Is anyone home?”

She got her answer when they walked into the living room.

Everything was a mess. Furniture was turned over and broken objects were scattered around the room. Gina felt the room start to spin at the sight of blood staining the ground and she stumbled back as her breathing started to pick up. Her mom was gone, and Gina wasn’t even here to protect her. She covered her mouth to muffle her sobs and closed her eyes tightly trying to hold back her tears. Nini cupped Gina’s face in her hands gently and coaxed her to open her eyes. 

“We’re going to save her,” she assured. “Harry isn’t going to win. I know you’re upset, and you have every right to be, but this isn’t your fault. If it wasn’t your mom, it could’ve been someone else. The only person to blame is Harry, not you.”

“She’s all I have left,” Gina sobbed. 

“All of us are here for you Gi. You’re not alone and you never will be. Not as long as we’re around. We’re going to get her back.” 

Gina nodded and took a deep breath, calming herself down. Nini continued to hold her which helped Gina center herself. She was finally able to stand on her own and she rested her hands on top of Nini’s pulling them away from her face and kissing the back of them softly. “Thank you, again.”

Nini’s face was a red as a tomato and she squeaked in surprise, turning away. Gina giggled and looked at her fondly, feeling slightly at ease. Her phone rang and she picked it up, her spider-sense getting worse at the sound of Big Red and Seb panicking in the background. 

“Kourtney? What’s going on?” Gina questioned. 

“Get to Ricky’s house. _Now_ ,” Kourtney demanded. 

“I thought you were staying with Ashlyn and Seb?” she countered, pulling Nini outside.

“We were supposed to, but Ashlyn started freaking out because EJ hasn’t responded to any of her messages and she saw a truck following him when he left. She thought she was being paranoid before, but after what just happened, something was up. Ash said EJ was heading to Ricky’s so we drove over to try and find him,” Kourtney explained. “We didn’t find either of them, but we found Ricky’s dad.”

Gina didn’t like the way her voice dropped after that. She told Kourtney they were on their way before hanging up. Gina didn’t bother putting her mask on for the sake of time and swung towards Ricky’s house with Nini in her arms, explaining the situation as they moved. She burst through the door as soon as they arrived, ignoring the shocked expressions on Ashlyn and Seb’s faces when they saw her in her Spider-Woman suit. Kourtney and Big Red were on the ground, hovering over Mr. Bowen’s body.

Gina tried not to freak out at the large amount of blood on the floor. 

Nini gasped and covered her mouth, her face turning pale. Ashlyn and Seb wrapped their arms around her, still looking at Gina in shock. 

“Is he…” Gina couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“He has a pulse, but it’s extremely faint,” Big Red replied. “I don’t know how much longer he has.”

“Ricky’s phone is still here and he called 911, but they never came,” Kourtney added, venom dripping from her voice.

Ashlyn furrowed her eyebrows as she processed everything. “The police gave up on finding Carlos, they didn’t come when Seb called, and now they won’t even send an ambulance?” 

“Oscorp,” Nini whispered in horror. “Harry has connections. He was planning all of this from the beginning.”

Carlos. Ricky. EJ. Her mom. All of them were at the mercy of Oscorp and the thought of Harry harming any of them made Gina sick. He already got to Carlos with the venom serum, and even if Mr. Bowen wasn’t one of his intended targets, Harry got to him anyway. This wasn’t about taking over the city anymore. Harry wanted Gina, and he was doing everything he could to drag her down. 

“Ashlyn and I can try to help him,” Seb mentioned quietly. “We’ll do what we can.”

Kourtney and Big Red looked at each other, an unspoken agreement exchanged between them as they let the other teens take over. Ashlyn stopped Kourtney and kissed her, whispering something in her ear before turning her attention back on Mr. Bowen. Big Red asked her about it but Kourtney ignored him, a small blush on her face. 

Gina kept her eyes trained on the ground, feeling nothing but rage. Nini rested a hand on her back and was saying something, but Gina was too caught up in her thoughts to listen. She was sick of Harry toying with her and hurting the people she cared about in the process. This was it. Gina had to end things now before Harry could do anything else. Her friends and her mom needed her. They needed _Spider-Woman_. 

She couldn’t wait any longer.

“We’re going to Oscorp. _Tonight_.”


	18. the rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina knew this entire situation was affecting all of them, not just her. This was going to stay with them for the rest of their lives. 
> 
> In a way, Harry would still win, and that angered Gina to no end. 
> 
> tw // blood, violence & death

Nini couldn’t keep up with what was happening. 

It was hard for her to believe that a couple of weeks ago, her biggest concern was memorizing her lines for the school musical. She didn’t even remember what it was like to have a normal life. Now here she was with Kourtney and Big Red, driving to Oscorp to rescue their friends. They had this huge burden on their shoulders that they didn’t ask for. 

It wasn’t fair. Especially not to Gina. 

They’ve already been through enough. Being dropped from the sky still haunted Nini, and she doesn’t think she’ll ever fully get over it. Seeing the Venom take over Bianca was traumatizing enough, but the sight of Carlos suffering from the effects of it was even worse. None of what they’ve seen is something a teenager should go through, and yet here they were. Still, after everything, nothing compared to seeing Mr. Bowen bleeding out on the floor on his own home. 

Before anything, Nini and Ricky were best friends. They grew up together and despite the rough patch they went through, that didn’t change the history they had together. Mr. Bowen was part of Nini’s life just as much as Ricky was. Their families were extremely close and cared for each other deeply. When her moms couldn’t be there for Nini, Mr. Bowen always was. Seeing the same man who managed to make her laugh even when her moms couldn’t fighting for his life is an image Nini would never forget. 

She wrung her hands together tightly, feeling nauseous as she remembered how much blood was on the ground. Kourtney noticed her unease but stayed silent and kept her eyes on the road, occupied with her own thoughts. Big Red sat silently in the back, his knees pulled up to his chest as he looked out of the window with an unreadable expression on his face. Gina was most likely already at Oscorp, insisting she went alone to take care of any guards who were guarding the building. Before she left, Nini made her promise to be careful. Gina assured her with a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Her entire body was tense as she spoke, her shoulders sagging.

She was just as tired as the rest of them. Hell, just as _terrified_. 

Harry was insane. If he went as far as to hurt Mr. Bowen that badly, who knew what else he was willing to do? Even if they had a plan, they were still going in blind. No one wanted to say it out loud, but they all knew things could easily go wrong. Despite this, that’s not what scared Nini the most. She saw how angry Gina looked before she swung away, rage burning in her eyes. 

It was the same anger Nini saw when Gina lashed out on Tyler. 

She knew Gina was a good person. No matter what, she’s always been there for her and everyone else, even if that meant pushing her own problems aside. She would never intentionally hurt anyone. Nini repeated those words in her head like a prayer, trying to reassure herself. 

It wasn’t working.

Harry went too far this time. He knew exactly how to hurt Gina and did it in all the worst ways. At some point, his plan wasn’t about taking over the city anymore. It was about getting even with Gina and stopping Spider-Woman for good. As soon as he stepped into East High for the first time, that was the beginning of his plan. It’s gotten to the point where Gina couldn’t control her anger anymore. 

Nini knew that if it came down to it, no matter what she could try and say, Gina would kill Harry. And that terrified her more than anything. 

“I think she should do it.” It went unspoken that they were all pondering the same thing. Nini looked back at Big Red who still had his eyes on the window, surprised that he of all people would want Gina to do something so horrific.

“Gina isn’t a killer,” Kourtney argued, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. “You can’t expect her to do something like that.”

“Mr. Bowen is basically dead already. I won’t feel bad if Harry dies too,” Big Red snapped. “We wouldn’t have to be so afraid if he did die anyway.” 

“I wouldn’t be able to look at Gina the same way if she went through with it. And if I’m being honest? I don’t know who I’m talking to right now.” 

Nini was used to them fighting. It was how their friendship was. They bickered over the smallest things and it drove everyone else insane. Deep down they still cared about each other, most of their arguments lighthearted. 

This was different.

There was malice in Big Red’s tone as he spoke, and Kourtney was genuinely disturbed by what he was saying. This wasn’t one of their silly arguments. It was a matter of life or death, and it was bringing something dark out in both of them. The closer they got to Oscorp, the more the reality of their situation began to set in. They didn’t have the luxury of being kids anymore. These conversations were necessary, even if they were twisted. Nini’s mind wandered back to Gina, her thoughts running wild in her head. 

“I love her.” She could feel Kourtney and Big Red’s eyes on her as she spoke, her voice quiet but still holding power behind her words. 

“No matter what she does, I’ll always love her. That’s what matters.” 

And even if Nini was terrified, it was the truth. 

The rest of the car ride was silent, the teens basking in the last moments of peace they had before they had to face Oscorp. 

The peace didn’t last very long.

\---

Ricky’s head was pounding as he woke up. He groaned and moved to hold his head, frowning when he couldn’t. His hands were tied behind his back, along with his feet tied in front of him. He was in the corner of a glass box, somewhere in Oscorp. The room was familiar from the tour their school came here for a couple of weeks ago. Ricky looked around, his heart dropping when he saw EJ bound to a chair in the middle of the room, his head lolling to the side. 

His memories came flooding back with a vengeance, tears forming in his eyes at the thought of his dad. Blood still covered his clothes and he tried not to vomit at the sight, closing his eyes tightly and leaning back against the glass wall behind him. It scared him how little he cared about what could happen to him. A big part of Ricky felt like he deserved whatever Harry had planned. His dad was dead because of him. The family that _did_ care about him was gone. He opened his eyes and looked at EJ who was still knocked out. As much as Ricky loved him, they were only in high school. He would leave eventually, wouldn’t he? All his friends would. 

So what else did he really have to live for? 

“Ricky? Sweetheart?” 

He jumped and turned around, his eyes going wide when he saw his mom. Ricky shuffled away from her and pressed himself against the opposite corner of the glass box. A hurt look flashed across her eyes when he moved but still smiled, even if it didn’t reach her eyes. Ricky tried to wipe his tears away with his shoulder, refusing to let his mom see him in this state. He moved to face her again, freezing when his eyes landed on the lab coat she was wearing, the Oscrop logo on it glaring back at him. 

She worked here. She worked for _Harry_. How the hell could he forget something as big as that?

“You knew what was going to happen,” Ricky accused, his voice shaking. 

The smile on his mom’s face dropped, giving him the answer he needed. Angry tears escaped from his eyes as he glared at her fiercely. 

“Why didn’t you try to stop Harry? Does dad mean that little to you?” Ricky demanded. “He’s _dead_ , and you sat back and let it happen.”

“I didn’t have a choice-”

“BULLSHIT!”

His mom flinched. “You always have a choice. We’re your _family_. That should come before anything, and yet you still picked your stupid job over us. Dad still tried to vouch for you after the divorce and this is how you repay him? By letting this happen? He’s gone and it’s your damn fault!”

“I told him to protect you and that’s what he did!” Lynne hissed. 

“And yet here I am, tied up in a glass box,” Ricky shot back. “He’s always protected me, unlike you. This isn’t his fault. The only person you should be blaming is yourself.”

She slammed a fist against the glass box. “Fine. Hate me all you want, but this has always been about you, not your father. I made a deal with Harry and as soon as that’s settled, we’re going home.”

“I’d rather rot in this stupid box than go anywhere with you,” he snapped, his tone cold. 

Before his mom could respond, the door to the room opened. They both froze when Harry walked in, clapping his hands with an amused expression on his face.

“I have to say, that was pretty entertaining,” he noted. “Family drama always makes things interesting, don’t you think?”

He kicked the chair EJ was sitting in, startling the teen and waking him up. “Rise and shine sleeping beauty! Don’t want you to miss the rest of the show.” 

Ricky felt bile rise in his throat when Harry met his gaze as he spoke. Images of his dad flashing in his mind again, reminding him what the other teen was capable of. He quickly looked away and focused on EJ who was still trying to pull himself together. Lynne tried not to move when Harry leaned into her space, his green eyes trained on her expectantly. 

“I’m assuming you finally had our guest stabilized?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yes. Carlos is stable and the Venom serum should run its course.”

EJ started fighting against his restraints. “You assholes took Carlos??? What the fuck did you do to him??”

“Calm down Caswell,” Harry scolded, rolling his eyes. “No need to make a scene.”

Ricky couldn’t bring himself to form words as he stared at his mom, EJ and Harry arguing in the background. Not only did she stand back and let his dad die, but she had a part in Carlos’s disappearance. She knew how close he was with Carlos and that didn’t change anything. They did something to him and his mom didn’t even blink an eye. She didn’t look guilty at all which just made it worse. This wasn’t the same woman who used to read him bedtime stories and build pillow forts with him. That woman was long gone.

Right now? He was staring at a monster. 

“Can you two stop already?” Lynne snapped, stopping Harry and EJ’s argument. “We had a deal. I did what you asked, so let my son go.” 

The room went silent. Harry didn’t respond at first, walking in a circle around her. He nodded to himself as he went through his thoughts, standing behind her. Lynne stayed still and held the ends of her lab coat tightly to try and hide how much her hands were shaking. It was like a predator observing their prey, the comparison sending a chill down Ricky’s spine. Harry broke the silence with a snort and started to laugh, doubling over when his laughter grew. He sighed and stood back up, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes.

“For someone who’s a genius, you’re the dumbest person I’ve ever worked with.” 

Before Lynne could utter a work, Harry wrapped his hands around her throat from behind, using his claws to dig into her skin and slit her throat open. 

A scream ripped out of Ricky’s throat, his eyes blown wide in horror. 

His mom fell to her knees and held her throat, choking on her own blood. Harry was completely unbothered, looking at Lynne in disappointment. EJ was frozen in his seat, his eyes trained on the pool of blood forming on the floor. 

“I told you the only reason you’re still alive is that you’re useful, remember? You did what I needed you to do which means I don’t need you anymore. I can’t believe you fell for that,” Harry scoffed. “I killed Todd _and_ I just killed my father. Right before I came down here actually. He was annoying. Both of you have that in common. And if I’m being honest? you have yourself to blame for this. I thought you knew better than to trust the bad guy.” 

Lynne gasped and collapsed on the floor as her entire body began to spaz out. Harry bent down with a pout on his face as he watched her. “It’s unfortunate. But you know what? This could be a good thing, especially for your son.”

Ricky felt like he couldn’t breathe, his heart beating rapidly as the other teen looked up and smiled at him, his eyes glowing a dangerous shade of green.

“He said it himself. He would rather rot here than go anywhere with you. Some mother you are.”

Her eyes met Ricky’s and he couldn’t bring himself to look away. Tears streamed down his face as he watched the light fade from her eyes, her body slumping into the ground.

She was gone. 

Harry wiped the blood on his hands on her lab coat mindlessly, humming to himself without a care in the world. EJ was saying something but Ricky tuned him out, still keeping eye contact with his mom. He could say with full confidence that he hated her. She didn’t care about him or his dad. All she wanted was money, and she was willing to do anything for it. Even if that meant hurting her own family.

But she was still his mom, and his brain refused to let him forget that. 

The only happy memories they had together were from Ricky’s childhood, and as he stared into his mom’s now-lifeless eyes, he couldn’t stop replaying those memories in his head. He curled into himself as much as he could, sobs racking his body.

First his dad, and now his mom. His family was gone, and Ricky didn’t know if he had it in him to keep fighting. 

“You’re such a crybaby,” Harry sighed. 

“You killed his parents. How the hell do you think he’s going to react?” EJ snapped, his voice wavering. 

“I warned him, didn’t I? He had this coming. None of this would’ve happened if he tried harder. If he just _listened_. He wasn’t good enough to do something as simple as that.”

“Fuck you,” EJ spat.

Harry sighed dramatically. “Can you come up with something else to say? If you’re going to insult me at least have some variety.” 

He walked up to the front of the glass box Ricky was in and pressed his hand against it. A hand-print appeared under it and the entire wall started glowing before it opened. EJ started fighting against his restraints again, yelling at Harry to stay away. Ricky didn’t try to move away when he felt the other teen grabbed his chin, forcing him to make eye contact.

“Save your tears. I’m not done with you yet Bowen. In fact? I’m just getting started.” 

\---

Gina took down the last guard standing outside of Oscorp by the time Big Red, Kourtney, and Nini finally arrived. She twisted the guard’s arm behind their back and flipped them, their head hitting the ground harshly and knocking them out. Gina looked around at the other fallen guards, double-checking to make sure they were down. She was a little more aggressive than she needed to be and even broke a guard’s arm, but she didn’t feel guilt in the slightest.

They worked for Harry. She considered this their karma.

“That was both ridiculously awesome and terrifying,” Big Red said, though his words lacked their usual enthusiasm. 

Gina knew this entire situation was affecting all of them, not just her. This was the last obstacle standing in their way. But when - or if - things went back to normal, none of what they went through would just go away. This was going to stay with them for the rest of their lives. 

In a way, Harry would still win, and that angered Gina to no end. 

“Did you get hurt?” Nini asked, looking her up and down to check for injuries. 

“I didn’t give them a chance to hurt me,” she replied. “Did you guys hear anything from Seb and Ashlyn?” 

“They called a while ago. It’s not looking good,” Kourtney sighed with a grimace. “They’re trying everything they can for Ricky’s dad, but our best bet is to end this now so we can get him proper medical treatment.”

“Harry most likely got to the heads of the police department and the hospital. If they know he’s taken down, they’ll help us. Once I shut Oscorp’s network down, I can spread the message to them so they’ll stop ignoring us and help,” Big Red added.

“What if Harry found legit information about them though? Like stuff they could be covering up?” Nini asked.

“Then I’ll save it on a backup flash drive. We’ll take them down another day. Right now, Oscorp is our main concern.”

The teens nodded in agreement. Gina bent down and grabbed a gun from one of the guard’s giving it to Nini. “Take this. Just in case something happens.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone-”

“I’m not going to be there to protect you. It’s just a precaution and it’ll make me feel better knowing you at least have something to defend yourself. Please just take it.”

Nini looked hesitant but still took the gun. They looked up at the building, the Oscorp sign glaring down at them. Gina held her hand out and Nini grabbed it, squeezing her hand reassuringly. She pulled her along and motioned for Kourtney and Big Red to follow them. Even if security was low at night, walking through the front doors still wasn’t the best move. Gina found a back entrance when she first arrived and figured that was their best bet. Kourtney and Big Red pulled up the layout of the building on their phones once they got inside. 

“The computer lab is on the third floor. All of the testing rooms are on the fifth floor. Carlos has to be in one of them,” Big Red explained. “Once you guys get to Carlos, find Ms. Porter, EJ, and Ricky. Wherever Harry is that’s probably where they are.”

“We’ll give you guys the signal once we do. As soon as we find them you guys have to leave,” Gina added. “I’ll take care of Harry.”

They all nodded in agreement. Nini pulled Gina aside while Kourtney and Big Red quickly went over the plan again. They stayed silent for a moment as they held hands, taking each other in. Nini pulled her hands away and reached towards Gina’s mask, pulling it over her mouth. Gina blushed went she kissed her on the cheek. She pulled Nini into a hug and kissed her forehead before resting her chin on top of her head. 

“Remember what we promised each other?” Gina asked quietly. 

“Yeah. So you better come back,” Nini replied fiercely, hugging her tighter. 

They reluctantly pulled apart when Kourtney and Big Red finished going over the plan. The teens wished each other luck and went their separate ways, Nini sending one last longing look towards Gina as she ran down the hall with Big Red. Gina sighed and pulled her mask back over her face, following Kourtney the opposite way. 

“You’re going to see her again,” Kourtney assured. 

“And you’re going to see Ashlyn again,” Gina agreed. 

It was a small reassurance, but it helped to distract them from the danger they were walking into. When they reached the fifth floor, they decided navigating through the vents was a better idea just in case any guards were around. Gina wrapped an arm around Kourtney’s waist and pulled them both up, trying to be as quiet as possible. They moved fast, checking each of the rooms. Gina stopped when she felt her spider-sense go off, grabbing Kourtney’s arm. She turned back around and noticed a vent they checked already. They crawled back, their eyes going wide at what they saw.

Two lab assistants pushed a bed into the room below that had Carlos strapped down on in. He was unconscious, his face a deathly pale shade. The lab assistants left but a guard took their place and stood next to the bed. Gina motioned to Kourtney to stay silent as she carefully opened the vent. She took a deep breath before dropping down, punching the guard across the face. They stumbled back and Gina kicked the guard’s chest hard, sending them flying into the wall and knocking them out. She turned back to help Kourtney get down, keeping her eyes on the guard just in case. 

Carlos groaned and they rushed over to him, checking over the teen frantically. Gina felt sick seeing how black his veins were, knowing it was her fault. She held his hand tightly as Kourtney ran around the lab.

“Los? I don’t know if you can hear me, but you’re going to be okay,” Gina whispered. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

“We actually might be able to do that faster than I thought,” Kourtney said, holding up a book. “Everything about the Venom serum is in here. I can have an antidote ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Work as fast as you can. I’ll stand guard.”

Kourtney nodded, already gathering what she needed. Gina squeezed Carlos’s hand one last time, blinking away the tears forming in her eyes. She stood by the door and clenched her fists tightly, her anger growing as time went on.

Gina was going to make Harry pay. 

\---

“How much longer is this going to take?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can you work any faster?”

“Alright. I’ll just hack into Oscrop’s mainframe and break down their firewalls right now! It’s not like they have multiple security measures and the entire system is almost impossible to hack into!”

Nini glared but didn’t push any further. Big Red was under enough pressure already. She felt bad for snapping, but the weight of the gun in her hands made her anxious and she couldn’t stop worrying about Gina. Harry knew how to get to her, and Nini had a feeling Carlos, Ricky, and EJ were part of his twisted plan. Big Red slammed his hands against the keyboard in front of him, catching Nini’s attention.

“Nothing I’m doing is working!” he snapped. “Every time I think I break through a wall, five more pop up. It’s impossible.”

“No it’s not,” Nini argued. “You’re the same person who hacked into their security system. You can figure this out.” 

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and cursed under his breath. Nini studied the computer screen carefully, narrowing her eyes as a thought occurred to her. 

“Hacking won’t be enough. Even if you do manage to get through, it would take more time. Maybe you could try and use a virus or something? If it’s bad enough it should be able to take the system down for good,” she proposed. “I know we talked about getting any valuable information we could about the police and the hospital, but we don’t have time. We need to do this now.” 

“A virus,” Big Red muttered. “That could work.”

He started to type, his eyes darting up and down the computer screen. Nini sighed in relief and watched him work. They jumped when the computer started beeping loudly. Big Red moved as fast as he could to shut it off, flinching when it grew more frequent. 

“What the hell did you do?” Nini demanded. 

“The virus triggered the security system and it’s trying to stop it,” Big Red explained, typing as fast as he could. “If I just-”

He was cut off when all the computers in the room started blaring. They yelled and covered their ears from the noise. Nini froze when she heard footsteps coming towards them. She took a shaky breath and uncovered her ears, turning off the safety on her gun. Big Red started typing again, wincing as the noise got worse. The door was slammed from the outside, making the teens jump. 

“What’s going on in there?” 

Nini’s heart started racing. “Big Red I swear to _god-_ ”

“I got it!” he exclaimed. 

The computers shut down and the beeping stopped, leaving the room silent. Big Red slumped back in his seat and ran his hands over his face, laughing in disbelief. “I actually did it.”

“Good job! I’m proud of you, seriously, but we need to get out of here,” Nini deadpanned, moving away from the door when the pounding got worse. 

They looked around the room, trying to find another way out. Nini’s eyes landed on a vent in the corner of the room and pulled Big Red towards it. She let him go first and followed right after, closing the vent as soon as the door broke open. Three guards ran into the room armed with guns, looking around suspiciously. Nini and Big Red quickly crawled down the vent, making their way towards their friends. 

Nin’s mind was on Gina the entire way there. 

\---

“I think I figured out the right formula.” 

Kourtney was holding a syringe with a green liquid when Gina turned around. “I don’t know how long it’ll take to work, but-”

The doorknob turning interrupted her. They didn’t have time to go back into the vent and Gina started to panic, her spider-sense blaring in her head. She wrapped an arm around Kourtney’s waist and shot a web at the ceiling, pulling them up as the door opened. Gina stuck to the ceiling, Kourtney holding her tightly so she wouldn’t fall. The two assistants they saw earlier walked into the room and took Carlos away, ignoring the guard knocked out on the ground. Gina glared as she watched them leave, dropping down from the ceiling holding Kourtney as soon as the door closed. 

“They’re like robots,” Kourtney muttered. “I would think they would start panicking seeing a guard down.” 

“Unless Harry knows we’re here.”

Gina ignored the shocked expression on Kourtney’s face. Her hearing picked up the alarms from the computer lab. She figured Big Red and Nini were successful but even if the alarms didn’t go off around the entire building, guards were still around and they probably told Harry what happened. Still, he didn’t know about the antidote. It was the one advantage they had and they couldn’t lose it. 

“We just walked into a trap, didn’t we?” Kourtney asked quietly.

“No. He’s not going to win,” Gina argued. “He thinks he’s in control but he isn’t. Whatever he’s planning won’t work. We can still stop him.”

Kourtney didn’t disagree, but the fear in her eyes was prevalent. She hid the antidote in her back pocket as they walked out of the room. Gina heard the elevator ding and figure that’s where the lab assistant went. Dread settled over her when she saw the floor number was already picked for them.

She was right. Harry was waiting for them. 

Kourtney held onto her arm, tightening her grip when the elevator stopped moving. Gina’s breath hitched when they walked out, recognizing the room immediately. It was the same room where the spider bit her. She tried to push her discomfort away and kept walking, guarding Kourtney along the way. Her spider-sense was still going off like crazy and it only got worse the further they walked. They turned around a corner, stopping immediately. Gina’s eyes landed on Mrs. Bowen’s body first, her stomach turning at the amount of blood on the ground. Ricky was tied up in a glass box on one side of the room, Carlos passed out beside him. EJ was restrained to a chair in the middle of the room and Harry stood behind him, smirking when he spotted them. 

“Finally! The guest of honor has arrived!”

“Is this some kind of game to you???” Kourtney snapped. “None of us should be here. None of us deserve this bullshit!”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You’ve been involved ever since that spider bit you,” Harry shot back. “Isn’t that right, Gina?” 

She didn’t bother to deny anything. “This is between you and me. Let my friends go.”

“ _Gina_?” EJ asked in disbelief.

Ricky didn’t react. His eyes were glossed over and he looked completely out of it, a defeated expression on his face. Gina’s heart broke at the sight and she glared at Harry through her mask. He just laughed and grabbed EJ’s face, using a claw to cut down his face.

“I don’t think you’re in the position to be making demands,” he mocked. 

Harry let EJ go and walked over to the glass box, keeping his eyes on Gina. “I’ll give you one thing: this _is_ between you and me. I was made into a _science experiment_ because of you and treated like a weapon. You ruined my life and all I want to do if ruin yours. From what I’ve seen, your friends _are_ your life. So if I get rid of them, I destroy you.”

He knocked on the glass box, waking Carlos up. Gina watched in horror as he dragged himself away from Ricky, grabbing his head and screaming. The black liquid in his veins started to move, taking over his body the same way it happened to Bianca. Carlos screamed louder and banged his head against the ground, Harry smirking at the sight.

“Carlos and Ricky mean a lot to you, don’t they? They’re your best friends after all. And now you get to watch one kill the other helplessly. How does it feel knowing all of this is your fault?” 

Ricky still wasn’t completely there, but Carlos breaking down was starting to bring him back into reality. He made himself as small as he could, fear and horror shining in his eyes. “Carlos?”

He jumped when his friend growled at him, the Venom completely taking over his body. EJ yelled and fought against his restraints, wincing when Harry walked behind him and dug his claws into his shoulders to stop him. Gina looked in between them, her head spinning. If she tried to save Ricky, Harry would kill EJ. If she tried to save EJ, Carlos would kill Ricky. Kourtney was shaking behind her and Gina didn’t know what to do. Harry laughed at her distress, his green eyes glowing brighter than they ever have.

“Face it. I _won_.”

_You saved me. You’re my hero_

Gina was moving before her brain could keep up.

Even when Nini wasn’t here, she still managed to be the one person that could ground Gina. They’ve saved each other countless times in more ways than one. She told Nini they were going to beat Harry and save their friends, and that’s exactly what they were going to do. Gina aimed two webs at Harry’s hands and pulled, yanking him away from EJ. She threw him across the room and Kourtney took the opportunity to help the other teen. Harry landed on his feet and charged back at Gina, swiping his claws across her arms. 

“Gina has been Spider-Woman this entire time? That’s what she’s been hiding?” EJ asked as Kourtney untied him.

“Yes and we can talk about it later. Right now I need you to tell me anything you know about that glass box before Carlos rips Ricky to shreds!” Kourtney replied urgently. 

She finished untying him and EJ stood up, quickly bending down when Gina was launched over their heads. They screamed when Harry lunged towards them, moving out of the way. Gina recovered and tackled Harry, rolling across the floor. Carlos was completely taken over by the Venom and Ricky was desperately calling out to him. 

“I saw Harry open it earlier. But even when we do open the door, we can’t take Carlos down like that!” EJ yelled.

Kourtney pulled the antidote out of her pocket. “I have this. As soon as Carlos runs out I can give it to him and he’ll be okay.”

“That’s easier said than done. Look at him!”

“We don’t have time to stand here and argue! If we don’t act now Ricky-”

They screamed and ducked again when Harry was thrown, flying over their heads. Gina used her webs to restrain him as soon as he hit the ground. “That’s not going to hold him for long. EJ, open the glass box and help Ricky when Carlos runs out. I’ll hold him down so Kourtney and give him the antidote.”

Ricky screamed and they turned around, watching in horror as Carlos wrapped his claws around Ricky’s neck, screaming right back in his face. EJ ran and pressed his hand against the box, moving out of the way when it opened. Gina ran shot a web at Carlos’s eyes and jumped on his back. He roared and stumbled, letting go of Ricky to remove the webbing from his eyes. EJ took the opportunity to get to Ricky, untying him and holding the younger teen in his arms. Gina jumped off of Carlos’s back when he tried to throw her off, the room shaking when he screamed at her. 

“Carlos I know you’re still in there,” she said firmly. “I’m not giving up on you!”

Gina flipped out of the way when Carlos slammed his fists down where she was previously standing. She continued dodging his attacks, trying to figure out a way to take him down without hurting him. The logical side of her knew using force would be a better move, but this was still Carlos. He’s been through enough and Gina couldn’t bring herself to hurt him even more. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn’t feel the grip on her leg until it was too late. Gina yelled out in surprise when Carlos dragged her, slamming her against the floor like a ragdoll. 

He repeated the attack several times and Gina started to feel disoriented. She groaned and tried to pull herself together, trying to ignore the trail of blood trickling down her face. Guilt pooled in her stomach when she admitted she had to fight back, already muttering apologies under her breath. The next time Carlos threw her in the air, Gina shot a web at a ceiling and launched them into the air. She ripped her leg from his grip and kicked her arm away, flipping him around. Gina pulled herself up a little more before she dropped down, slamming her feet into Carlos’s chest and sending them crashing to the ground. 

A crater formed beneath Carlos from the force of their fall. He was still awake, but his movements were more sluggish. Gina used all of her strength to hold him down and looked up at Kourtney. The other girl didn’t hesitate and ran over to them, sticking the syringe in Carlos’s shoulder. 

“Is there any chance this won’t work?” Gina asked. 

Kourtney bit her lip nervously. “I don’t have a definite answer to that. I used all the information I found in the lab but I didn’t get to test it first. Like I said before, if it does work I don’t know how long it’s going to take until Carlos is back to normal.”

Gina sighed and looked down, surprised to see the Venom around Carlos moving on its own. She got up and stood beside Kourtney when its movements became more rapid. It separated itself from Carlos and it continued to grow smaller. They watched as it continued to shrink, hissing one last time before it disappeared. 

“Or it works immediately,” Kourtney said in surprise. 

Carlos was unconscious but he looked a lot better. His breathing was normal and he showed no signs of discomfort. Gina and Kourtney sighed in relief, leaning against each other as their exhaustion caught up to them. EJ smiled seeing Carlos was okay again. Ricky didn’t show any emotion on his face, but his body was slightly more relaxed. 

“ _No_.”

Gina stood up straight and pushed Kourtney behind her. Harry finally got out of the webs, rage burning in his eyes. Out of all the times they’ve been together, Gina has never seen him this mad before. Her spider-sense was going off at an intensity she never felt before. Harry stepped towards her slowly, his body shaking in anger. 

“I’m supposed to win, not you!” he spat. 

“Face it goblin. You’re no match for me,” Gina taunted. 

Kourtney held Carlos in her arms and ran towards Ricky and EJ to stay out of their way. Harry didn’t stop walking until he stood right in front of Gina, the tension between them growing. 

“I’m going to kill you.”

She could say the same to him. Gina felt just as angry and wanted nothing more than to take him down for good. He put her friends through hell and back and he deserved to pay. But as angry as she was, killing Harry wouldn’t solve their problems. In her opinion? Death was too good for him. 

_You’re not a killer Gina_

Nini was right. Watching Harry rot behind bars sounded a lot more appealing. 

Gina scoffed and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling his down to her eye-level. “You can try. I’m taking my friends and my mom home with me. Where the fuck are you keeping her?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t seem to remember.”

Her spider-sense grew even more intense before she could come up with a response. Gina backed away when she saw he was holding a pumpkin bomb behind his back, recognizing it from the day he attacked the mall. It was already activated and could go off any second. She panicked when she heard her friends yelling in the background, racking her brain to find a solution. 

It came to her when she saw a figure appear behind Harry. 

Gina grabbed the bomb, catching him off guard. She motioned for her friends to get out of the glass box and as soon as they did, Gina threw the bomb inside and slammed the door closed. Harry growled and went to stop her, but the sound of two gunshots going off stopped him. He gasped feeling two bullets go through his legs and collapsed. Nini stood behind him holding her gun in a death grip. Big Red was right beside her with a shell-shocked expression on his face. The bomb went off and they all jumped, the glass box shattering from the impact. Nini dropped the gun and ran towards Gina, throwing her arms around her. 

“You have a scarily good aim.”

“He looked like he was about to kill you. There was no way in hell I was missing.”

Gina melted in Nini’s embrace, holding her as close as she could. The moment was interrupted by Harry’s enraged scream. They looked down at him in annoyance Big Red was checking on the other teens, watching Harry warily as he did. 

“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance!” he hissed, glaring at Nini.

“You never had a chance. Not with me around,” Gina shot back. “I’m going to ask you again. Where is-”

The sound of metal wings slicing through the air cut her off.

She pushed Nini out of the way as the ceiling above them caved in, the Vulture crashing through it. Harry writhed across the ground, the sound of his maniacal laughter echoing across the room. Gina cried out in pain when she felt claws dig into her back, pulling her off the ground and slamming her right back into it. The Vulture forcefully turned her and used their wings to slash at Gina’s mask, leaving most of her face exposed. She clenched her teeth and grabbed the wings when they came at her again, throwing the Vulture off of her. Harry continued to laugh in the background, his movements becoming more frantic. Gina rolled out of the way when the Vulture came flying towards her, her vision blurring from the amount of blood she was losing. Her injuries weren’t healing as fast as they usually did and it was extremely worrying. She didn’t like the looks of her odds, admitting with a sinking feeling that this could be her last fight. Gina’s eyes found Nini’s immediately. Her heart ached when she saw the other girl was crying.

The girl that she loved. The girl that she’s _always_ loved, even when they were fighting.

They never said the words out loud, and now Gina didn’t know if they ever would. The one thing she did know was that she couldn’t let Nini see her like this. If this was her last stand as Spider-Woman, she needed to do it alone. Gina couldn’t let her or the rest of her friends put themselves in any more danger. 

Nini met her gaze, already knowing what she was thinking. _Promise me that if I tell you to leave, you will_ . More tears escaped from her eyes and she shook her head defiantly. _I can’t promise you that._

_You_ **_promised_ **

_And you promised to come back to me_

Like always, Nini always managed to ground her. 

The Vulture was flying towards Gina head-on, their wings flapping at a dangerous speed. Gina stood her ground and glared, hitting her head against the Vulture’s helmet. She didn’t stumble and punched the helmet, shattering it completely. Gina grabbed the front of the Vulture’s suit and threw them against the wall, using her webs to keep them there. Her friends cheered and she took a shaky breath to calm herself down, taking off her ripped mask to give herself more room to breathe. 

And yet, after everything, Harry was _still_ laughing.

EJ got up and stomped towards him, ignoring the worried calls from his friends. He grabbed Harry’s shirt and yanked him up, shaking him harshly. “What’s so funny? You lost.”

“Did I? Spider-Woman is still wanted and her name is tarnished!” he giggled.

“Not anymore,” Big Red cut in. “We took down the entire network. All of the bullshit you put out against her is gone. It’s over.” 

Harry wasn’t phased. “Is it?”

“Stop being cryptic,” EJ snapped. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Gina finally got the answer to her question.”

Kourtney was the first to gasp after the last pieces of the Vulture’s shattered helmet fell to the ground. EJ and Big Red followed, their faces turning pale. Nini covered her mouth to muffle her cries. Gina was confused at their reactions and turned around, wondering what was going on. 

Time stopped. 

She couldn’t bring herself to move. Her tears felt hot as they fell down her face, burning every inch of her skin. Out of all the nightmares she’s had, this still beat every single one. The only difference? This was reality, and she wasn’t going to wake up. Gina was frozen in place, her hands shaking when her spider-sense went off at a familiar intensity. 

“Mom?”


	19. the betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina already had to deal with the loss of one parent. But somehow, even if her mom was right in front of her, this was just as bad. 
> 
> As far as Gina was concerned, her mom died the day the Vulture was born. 
> 
> tw // death

_“Mommy!”_

_Ms. Porter turned around, grunting when Gina ran into her. The 8-year old hugged her mom tightly, looking up at her with teary eyes. “The monster under my bed is back! I heard it!”_

_She picked Gina up and glared playfully. “The monster repellent I used last time didn’t work?”_

_The ‘monster repellent’ was just a spray bottle filled with water, but Gina didn’t need to know that._

_“No! And it smells bad,” she whined, her nose wrinkling in disgust._

_“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. The monster is no match for me.”_

_Gina giggled when her mom puffed her chest out proudly, trying to look as intimidating as she could. Ms. Porter put Gina down when they reached her room, dramatically opening the door and looking around. Her daughter held the back of her shirt tightly, mirroring her mom’s movements. She stayed behind when her mom walked into her worm, watching nervously. Ms. Porter looked under the bed, confused when she saw a moldy banana. At least that explained the bad smell Gina was talking about. She quickly grabbed it and threw it away before standing up._

_“I think it ran away for good this time.”_

_Gina walked in slowly, looking under the bed herself just to make sure. She sighed in relief and climbed back onto her bed. “You’re the best monster hunter in the world.”_

_Ms. Porter tucked Gina in, kissing her forehead with a gentle smile on her face. “Of course I am! Any monster who tries to mess with my daughter doesn’t stand a chance. I’ll always protect you.”_

_“Promise?”_

_“I promise.”_

Gina couldn’t say anything. All she could do was stare.

Her mom was staring right back, her expression grim. The entire room was silent, all eyes on Gina and her mom. Even Harry was quiet for once, watching the scene before him with a grin on his face. Kourtney couldn’t help but feel guilty. She knew something was off the minute Gina told her about her spider-sense going off around her mom, but she never would’ve predicted _this_. It felt like a punch in the gut. The Vulture has always been their biggest threat besides Harry. To find out Gina’s mom was behind the mask this whole time was shocking. 

Kourtney couldn’t begin to imagine what Gina was feeling.

“How many?”

Gina glared at her mom, tears pouring down her face. “How many people have you killed?” 

_“Did dad leave because of me?”_

_Ms. Porter froze, the question catching her off guard. Gina had an unreadable expression on her face, but the pain in her eyes was prevalent._

_“Of course not,” she replied gently. “Your dad loved you.”_

_“If he loved me so much he would’ve stayed.”_

_“Honey-”_

_“Just tell me the truth.”_

_Her mom frowned. “The truth is that things between me and your father weren’t great. We’ve always had a complicated relationship. Despite that, your father really did love you. That’s a fact. What happened between us has nothing to do with you, okay?”_

_“Are you going to leave too?” Gina asked quietly._

_Ms. Porter pulled her into a tight hug. “Never ask me that question again, do you hear me? I’m not going anywhere. It’s you and me against the world.”_

“Everything I’ve done was for your sake. It doesn’t matter who I had to hurt. I did it for you, for _us_.”

Gina shook her head, backing away. “There is no _us_. I don’t even know who I’m talking to right now.”

“After everything I’ve sacrificed? That’s all you can say to me? I’m your _mother_ -”

“You’re a _killer_.”

She clenched her fists tightly, her entire body trembling. “You threatened to kill me. Do you know how scared I was? How terrified? Not just for my life, but the life of my friends? For you? The Vulture haunted my nightmares for _weeks_ . And this entire time, it’s been you. My own _mother_ wanted to kill me. How can you look me in the eye and say you love me after that?”

“I didn’t know it was you-”

“That shouldn’t make a fucking difference!”

Gina’s voice echoed across the room, her words full of anger. “This is something I can never forgive. You always said it was us against the world. That you would always be there. And yet as soon as you put the damn mask on, I never saw you again. I was _alone_ . When I got my powers you were the first person I thought of to go to. You’re my _mom_ . The person I’m supposed to trust endlessly. Instead, you’re the person I’ve been running from.” She chuckled humorlessly, wiping her tears away. “When I cried about monsters hiding under my bed, you were there to protect me. This time? You _are_ the monster. And the only person I can rely on is myself. As far as I’m concerned, you left me the day you decided to become the Vulture. The person I’m looking at isn’t my mom. You’re the _enemy_.” 

_“Happy Father’s Day!”_

_Her mom’s jaw dropped when she saw the huge stack of pancakes Gina was holding. She smiled brightly and put them down on the table, holding out a card. “This is for you! And the pancakes are chocolate chip, you’re favorite!”_

_Ms. Porter took the card and opened it, still in a state of disbelief. She looked back up at her daughter with teary eyes. “But-”_

_“You’ve been working really hard lately. After dad left, you had to take up two roles. I know it’s just a day, but you deserve to be celebrated. I know I don’t show it a lot, but I’m grateful to have such an amazing mom. I don’t know what I would do without you.”_

_Her mom sobbed and pulled Gina into a hug. “I love you so much.”_

_“I love you too.”_

“I hate you.” 

It scared Gina how much she meant it. Even if she had her friends, she always ended up going back to an empty home. A part of her felt guilty for being mad at her mom, especially knowing how hard she worked. The pain she felt thinking Harry took her along with her friends was unbearable and her guilt only grew worse. Gina had been prioritizing her friends so much she forgot about the only family she had left. She was determined to save them all, to take down Oscrop, and to make Harry pay. All of this guilt and anger, only for her mother to be on the other side. Gina already had to deal with the loss of one parent. But somehow, even if her mom was right in front of her, this was just as bad. 

As far as Gina was concerned, her mom died the day the Vulture was born. 

“You don’t mean that,” Ms. Porter argued weakly. 

“How could I ever love someone as terrible as you?”

Her words slapped her mom across her face. Gina turned away, focusing her attention back on Harry. “It’s over. We’re leaving and you’re going to spend the rest of your life rotting behind bars.” 

He studied her for a moment, his calculating gaze setting off Gina’s spider-sense. Harry started to laugh again, throwing his head back violently. EJ flinched and let him fall to the ground. They all moved back, watching as writhed around the ground. Harry completely ignored Gina and looked back at her mom, waving his hands mockingly. 

“Don’t get all sad on me now Vulture. I still have one last mission for you!” he exclaimed cheerfully. 

Harry’s eyes landed on Nini. “Kill the girl. Once you do that, I’ll give you everything you need to leave the city with your daughter. That’s all you wanted, isn’t it? A fresh start? Well now’s your chance!”

“Over my dead body,” Gina snapped, stepping in front of Nini protectively. 

A sinister grin formed on his face as he pulled something out of his pocket. “That could be arranged.” It was a remote, and he hit a button on it before anyone could react. 

The entire room started to shake, sending everyone off balance. “You were right about one thing! It’s over. If I go down, Oscorp goes down with me.”

“What the fuck did you do?” Big Red demanded.

“Set up a bomb in the middle of the building. What else would I do?”

They screamed when the room started to shake even more. A huge chunk of the ceiling above them fell and they all dove out of the way. Gina held Nini in her arms and covered her head as more debris started to fall around them. Harry stayed on the ground, watching the building fall apart without a care in the world. 

“We need to leave _now_!” Kourtney shouted. 

Their friends started moving ahead, EJ and Big Red holding Carlos who was slowly starting to wake up. Gina helped Nini stand, steadying her when the building started to shake again. She held onto the taller teen tightly, her breath picking up as she started to panic. Gina cupped her face in her hands and smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay. We’re going to make it out of here alright?”

Nini nodded and took a deep breath, leaning into her touch. Her eyes went wide when she spotted something behind Gina. “LOOK OUT!”

They ducked when Ms. Porter came flying towards them. Gina stood back up and glared, aiming a web at her wings to try and pull her back down. Her mom grabbed her web before it could even touch her target and pulled, sending Gina flying across the room. She cried out in pain when her back hit a wall harshly, her body crumbling into the ground. Gina groaned and tried to pick herself back up, her arms shaking. She was exhausted from how much she had to fight already and didn’t know how much more she could take. Her injuries still weren’t healing fast enough and her entire body felt like a dead weight. 

The sound of Nini’s scream pulled her back into reality. 

Ms. Porter held Nini tightly, the teen struggling in her grip. “I’m doing this for us. For our _family_.”

“What family? The one you destroyed?” Gina snapped. “Put her down _now._ ”

“You know I can’t do that. Not when our future is on the line.”

She yelled in protest when her mom flew up through the hole in the ceiling. Tears fell down Nini’s face as she screamed, reaching her hand out as much as she could. “ _GINA_!”

Adrenaline coursed through her veins and she stood up, aiming a web at the ceiling to follow them, Gina looked back at her friends with a determined expression on her face. “Get out of here and don’t look back. I’ll save her.”

She quickly started to move, not giving them a chance to say anything in return. Gina ignored how much her muscles were aching and kept moving, Nini’s desperate cries motivating her to move even faster. 

She refused to lose someone else she cared about.

\---

This was bad. This was _seriously_ bad. 

Big Red couldn’t tell how much time they had left before the building completely collapsed, but he knew they weren’t going to make it out in time. Not unless they found a way to stop the bomb from completely going off. Carlos was finally awake and he was freaking out just as much as the rest of them which didn’t help Big Red’s nerves. Every time they turned into a hallway a huge pile of debris blocked their path, trapping them. 

Something had to be done.

“We’re going to die in here,” Carlos wailed. 

Kourtney glared at him. “No we’re not. We just have to keep looking for a way out-”

“There is no way out!” Ricky yelled, surprising everyone. “All we find are dead ends. We’re not getting out of here!”

“Not unless the bomb is shut down.”

They faced Big Red with wide eyes. “If this building comes down, so does every other building around it. Oscorp is huge and there are a bunch of apartments right in front of it. That can’t happen.”

“You can’t go back in there! Do you know how dangerous it is?” Carlos snapped. “You might not come back!”

“I’d rather it be my life than several innocent ones!” Big Red shot back. “Out of all of us, I’m the one who has the best chance of shutting it down.”

“There has to be another way,” Kourtney argued.

They were startled when a loud bang went off below them, screaming when the building began to tilt below their feet. The teens held onto each other as the tremors throughout the building grew worse, moving out of the way when a huge chunk of the ceiling above them fell to the ground. 

“We don’t have time to argue!” Big Red said firmly. “This is the only chance we have.”

“If you’re doing this, I’m going with you,” EJ demanded. “I’m the strongest one here. If it comes down to it, I’ll cover you.”

“ _No_ ,” Ricky argued. “You guys can’t do this! I won’t let you!”

More debris started to fall from the ceiling as the shaking got worse. Big Red spotted an open path at the end of the hall and looked at EJ who already had the same idea. Kourtney and Carlos hugged him tightly, trying to hold back their tears.

“I’m not saying goodbye,” Kourtney said fiercely, her voice shaking. 

“Neither am I,” Carlos agreed. 

Big Red held them tighter. “See you later?”

“You’re an idiot,” Kourtney scoffed, but there was no malice in her voice. 

EJ held Ricky in his arms, resting his chin on top of his head. The shorter teen buried his head in his chest, his arms wrapped around his waist in a death grip. “I’m not letting you go.”

“I know,” EJ said softly. 

The other teens behind them, already knowing what to do. EJ pulled away and held Ricky’s hands tightly, offering him a sad smile. “I love you.”

Kourtney and Carlos grabbed Ricky and dragged him away as soon as EJ let go. He fought against their grip but they didn’t budge and only tightened their grip. He ran down the hall in the opposite direction with Big Red, his heart breaking as Ricky’s screams echoed down the hall. The building started to shake again and more debris came down, blocking off EJ and Big Red from their friends. They didn’t look back and kept running as fast as they could towards the bomb.

\---

Harry couldn’t feel anything.

He was still on the ground, watching as Oscrop crumbled in front of his eyes. All the vengeance and rage he felt as the green goblin had vanished. Whatever Todd did to him worn off, leaving him with a feeling of emptiness. He lifted his hands, fighting back the bile in his throat thinking about the number of people the green goblin killed.

No. That _he_ killed. 

At some point, Harry and the green goblin became one. He gave up control and let all the bad things happen. His eyes landed on Lynne’s body in the corner of the room which only increased his guilt. Harry took a shaky breath and looked back up at the ceiling, his vision blurring as tears formed in his eyes. The room started to shake again and there was a huge bang above him. A gigantic piece of the ceiling broke off and it was coming down directly towards him. Harry didn’t bother to move. He didn’t feel scared at all. Instead, he felt a huge wave of relief. A single tear fell down his face as the debris was right above him. 

_Your father doesn't define who you are, and those people are missing out on getting to know the real you because to me? You're pretty cool_

Who knew the real him would turn out to be a villain. 

\---

Gina couldn’t remember the last time she had to move this fast. 

Her mom refused to stop and kept flying up. The wings on her suit were still damaged from when Gina bent them and it was slowing her down, but not by much. They didn’t stop moving until they reached the top of the building. Gina landed on the roof, stumbling when the ground shook. Her mom hovered in the air with Nini in her grip, holding the teen over the edge of the building. A terrified expression was etched on Nini’s face, her eyes trained on the street below her. 

_I had to watch the green goblin drop you from the sky_

The thought of that happening again made Gina feel sick. 

“I know you don’t understand, but I need to do this,” her mom said firmly. “Harry-”

“Do you see him anywhere?” Gina snapped. “He can’t do shit. Oscrop is done. The entire building is falling apart! Even if it wasn’t, he was never going to give you what you wanted. He’s a liar and a murderer. Sound familiar?”

“You had no _idea_ what I had to go through!” Ms. Porter roared. “My job laid me off. I was desperate and Oscorp was hiring. Harry offered everything I needed and more. This is the price of being a parent, let alone a single one. I had no choice. It was either sacrificing my life or yours. I don’t regret anything.”

“You always have a choice. You made the wrong one.”

Her mom went to say something else but stopped when she saw how furious Gina was. “You keep talking about what you went through, what you had to sacrifice. But it doesn’t hold a _candle_ to what I’ve been through. I lost my entire life! As soon as that stupid spider bit me, I lost the privilege of being a normal teenager. The lives you took? Those deaths are on _my_ shoulders because I wasn’t there.”

The building stopped shaking. Gina didn’t have time to dwell on it and kept her focus on her mom but was still relieved that at least one of her problems was solved. 

“Right now, you’re the one in control. Not Harry. You were always the one in control. This isn’t about ‘our future’ any more. This about you killing just for the sake of it. So if you care about me at all, you’ll put Nini down and turn yourself into the police,” Gina said shakily. 

“Will you forgive me if I do?” her mom asked.

“I think we both know the answer to that question.”

Neither of them moved. Gina continued to glare while Ms. Porter had a more desperate look in her eyes. She refused to be swayed by her mother’s emotions. Gina didn’t feel any guilt for her. All she did feel was rage, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. It probably never would. That thought hurt more than Gina was willing to admit, but it couldn’t be helped. She had been betrayed by the one person she thought she could always turn to. 

Their relationship was too broken to be fixed. 

Gina’s spider-sense went off when her mom started moving. To her surprise, Nini was put down without a fight. She ran over and pulled the shorter teen into a hug, eyeing her mom warily. 

“You okay?” Gina asked quietly.

Nini gripped the back of her suit tightly. “I am now.”

Sirens sounded in the distance, signaling the police and paramedics were close. Gina sighed in relief and held Nini tighter, glad that everything was finally over. 

That relief was short-lived when metal wings crossed her vision.

Gina looked up and saw her mom flying towards them, her claws aimed towards Nini. She pushed her out of the way and took the blow, crying out in pain when the claws dug into her hip. Gina gasped when the claws dug into her wound and wrapped around her body, pulling her up forcefully. Nini yelled after her, slowly disappearing as Ms. Porter dragged Gina further up into the sky. 

“If you won’t forgive me on your own, I’ll make you,” her mom hissed. “I’m not losing my only child.”

“Don’t you get it? You already did,” Gina snapped, her tone cold. 

She pulled her arms free and shot her webs at the wings of her mom’s suit, pulling them in. The wings curved and her mom yelled in protest, still trying to fly. Gina kicked her way out of the claws and threw herself on the back of the Vulture suit as they started to fall back down. Oscorp was visible again and Gina attached one web to her mom’s back and another to the edge of the building. The web slowed down their fall and Gina took the opportunity to restrain her mom with webs completely, leaving her dangling off the side of the building. She noticed police helicopters approaching them and quickly climbed back up to the roof of the building to get to Nini, leaving the police to deal with her mom. 

“You’re seriously going to leave me here? I’m your _mother_.”

Gina didn’t look back. Her mom yelled after her, struggling against her restraints. Gina just kept moving, her mom’s cries falling on deaf ears. As soon as she reached the roof, she was tackled to the ground. 

She groaned and looked up, smiling slightly when Nini was on top of her. “Can you give a warning next time? I thought you were another person trying to attack me.”

“Your spider-sense would’ve alerted you if that was the case,” Nini denied. “Last time I checked I’m not a threat.”

“You sure about that?” Gina teased, but the other girl didn’t look amused.

“I almost lost you.”

That’s when Gina noticed her tears. She frowned and sat up, cupping Nini’s face in her hands gently. “You didn’t. I promised you I’d come back, didn’t I?”

Gina wiped her tears away, leaning her forehead against Nini’s. They both took deep breaths, memorizing the sound of their heartbeats. They were both here. They were both _alive_. They were back where they belonged: in each other’s arms. Gina blushed when she noticed Nini was moving closer but stayed where she was. Time slowed down as they looked into each other’s eyes, the world around them fading away.

Nini surged forward and kissed her, the emotions they’ve been bottling up coming back at full force. 

Gina held Nini close and kissed her back, her heart racing. They were both crying, pouring everything they felt into each other. The kiss itself wasn’t anything revolutionary. It was a first for both of them and it was clumsy. But the passion behind it made up for everything else.

For the first time since she became Spider-Woman, Gina finally felt like she could breathe again. 

They pulled apart, looking at each other in awe. Nini squealed in surprise when Gina kissed her again, laughing when the other girl peppered kisses all over her face. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” Gina admitted. 

“Took you long enough,” Nini teased, leaning in to kiss her again. 

They stopped when a bunch of police sirens started to go off, reminding them where they were. Gina pulled Nini into her arms and lowered them down into the alley besides Oscorp. Kourtney noticed them and ran over, pulling off her hoodie and giving it to Gina to hide her suit. She led them towards the circle of ambulances where their other friends were. EJ and Big Red had a bunch of scratches on their faces but were okay otherwise. Gina hugged them, grateful they were able to stop the bomb, but still yelled at them for going back into the building and putting themselves in danger. Carlos went off on a rant full of ‘I told you so’ and ‘I knew it’ after finding out Gina’s secret identity, and he was _still_ going. 

“Okay, I get it! You were right about me lying!” Gina groaned. “Do you at least see why?”

Carlos smiled sheepishly. “I do. I promise I’m not going to tell anyone, but I’m not letting this go. Be prepared to hear ‘I told you so’ for the rest of your life.”

She rolled her eyes, relieved to see that the Venom didn’t have any lasting effects and Carlos was back to his usual self. Gina frowned when she noticed Ricky standing by one of the ambulances alone. She walked over, figuring out why when she saw a body bag. 

“It’s Harry.” 

Gina’s breath hitched. “He was crushed. They couldn’t find my mom’s body. Too much debris I guess.”

“Oh,” she whispered, not knowing what else to say.

“What about your mom?” Ricky asked hesitantly.

“I caught her. She’s going to be in jail for a long time,” Gina replied, her voice devoid of emotion.

“Looks like we both got unlucky in the mother department.”

Gina snorted, but she could tell Ricky was holding back his tears. She pulled him into a hug and he broke down, collapsing in her arms. Police officers walked by them, Ms. Porter following them with handcuffs. Gina froze when her mom met her eyes. They didn’t stop staring at each other until her mom was put into a cop car, the door closing behind her. Gina was crying before she even realized and hid her face in Ricky’s shoulder, trying to muffle her sobs. Their friends walked over and held them, the events of the day settling over them. Gina felt Nini hug her from behind and instantly felt warm, the presence of the other girl centering her. She looked at all of her friends with a watery smile. 

Despite everything, Gina knew they would be okay. 


	20. i am spider-woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As time went on, things started to get easier. Of course, everyone had their bad days, especially Gina, but the good started to outweigh the bad. In her case, however, the bad never went away.

_ 3 Months Later _

Adjusting to life after taking down Oscrop was a long and hard process, but Gina didn’t have to do it alone.

Moving was one of the hardest parts. When her mom was officially arrested, Mr. Bowen offered to take her in. Thanks to Ashlyn and Seb, he was able to make a full recovery. He didn’t remember exactly what happened, but he assumed it was a house robbery. No one tried to correct him. All of Gina’s friends helped her pack up her stuff when she made the move and stayed with her when she stood outside her house, taking it in one last time.

Living with the Bowens was an adjustment, but Gina got used to it quickly. It was the nightmares that were the real problem. They left her waking up in a cold sweat, and her body refused to go to sleep afterward. 

It turned out she wasn’t the only one having these issues.

Ricky’s nightmares were just as bad to the point where he had to remind himself where he was when he woke up. They didn’t talk about what they saw at first. Going downstairs and watching a movie to distract themselves sounded more appealing. It wasn’t until Ricky opened up about his mom that they started to be honest about their nightmares. 

They had a bunch of sleepovers with the rest of their friends right after the Oscorp incident. None of them wanted to be away from each other for long, especially after almost losing each other. As time went on, things started to get easier. Of course, everyone had their bad days, especially Gina, but the good started to outweigh the bad. In her case, however, the bad never went away.

She still hasn’t seen her mom since she’s been arrested. She doesn’t know if she even wants to. The prison her mom is being held at keeps sending her letters her mom is writing and also add how much she wants to talk. The letters are in a box under Gina’s bed, all of them still unopened. 

Maybe in the future she would be able to face her mom again. Until then? She was perfectly content with trying to move on.

Miss Jenn ended up deciding to hold the musical during the summer. Surprisingly everyone was happy about this decision. Even the general student body was excited to see the show. Carlos practically dragged Gina to rehearsals, refusing to take no for an answer. She complained but was happy to have a distraction outside of Spider-Woman patrols. There were only a couple days left until the show and Miss Jenn was strict about showing up to rehearsals on time. Which is why Gina was running around her room like a maniac trying to find her script. 

“Did you look under your bed?” Ricky asked urgently.

“For the tenth time:  _ yes _ ,” Gina replied.

He groaned and walked into her room to help her look. She looked up went he tapped her shoulder, smiling nervously when he was holding her script in his hands with an annoyed expression on his face.

“You want to guess where I found this?”

“On my desk?”

“Under your  _ fucking _ bed!”

Gina grabbed her script. “No need for the attitude!”

“A thank you would be nice,” Ricky deadpanned. 

“Thank you! For being a pain in the ass,” Gina replied, smiling cheekily when Ricky flipped her off. 

They heard EJ’s car horn and groaned, knowing they were extremely late. Ricky started to run downstairs, pausing when he noticed Gina wasn’t following him. “What are you waiting for? Our ride is here!”

“I’ll meet you guys there,” Gina assured. “I have a ride.”

Ricky narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Does your ride involve those new web-shooters Big Red was gushing about?”

“Possibly.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Gina whooped as she swung around the city, smiling widely under her mask. Her name was cleared after Oscrop was taken down, and it felt nice to go out as Spider-Woman without having to worry about the police chasing her. Well, at least not trying to arrest her for murder. They didn’t agree with the whole ‘vigilante’ thing and have tried to stop her more than once, but their efforts were all in vain. Gina was just as good as catching criminals as they were, and she wasn’t going anywhere. 

She finally reached Nini’s house and crawled up to her bedroom window, opening it quietly before entering. Nini was on her bed reading her script, completely oblivious to Gina’s presence. She crawled onto the ceiling and stood straight up, leaving her hanging upside down. Gina took off her mask and stood still, trying to stop herself from laughing. Nini looked up after a couple of minutes, freezing when Gina’s face was right in front of hers. She screamed and fell off of her bed, her script landing on her face. 

“When did you even come in???” Nini demanded.

“I’ve been here for so long I have grey hairs,” Gina deadpanned. 

“You’re the worst.”

“You still love me anyway.”

Nini rolled her eyes fondly and pulled herself up. She sat on her bed again, surprised when she saw Gina was upside down. “Show off much?”

“Not my fault I’m this cool,” Gina bragged. 

She pouted when Nini grabbed her face, squishing her cheeks. “You’re ruining my cool rep.”

“Never had one to begin with.”

“Hey!”

Nini giggled, pressing her lips against Gina’s softly. Kissing upside down was kind of weird to do, but they definitely didn’t hate it. Gina was getting so lost in the kiss she started to lose focus on staying stuck to the ceiling, causing her to fall on top of Nini. Her face turned red in embarrassment as Nini laughed, knowing the other girl wasn’t going to let her forget this. They looked at the time, panicking when they realized rehearsal already started. Gina didn’t give Nini a warning before she pulled her into her arms and jumping out of the window. She shot a web at a nearby pole and started to swing, laughing when Nini started to scream. 

Gina officially asked Nini to be her girlfriend a month ago. As eager as they were to start dating immediately, they knew they needed to take things slow after everything they went through. They were there for each other every step of the way. The bond between them was unbreakable. Gina knew that even if she had no one left, she would always have Nini. 

“You’re so close to the ground when you swing oh my god- Gina if you drop me-”

“What? Don’t trust me, princess?”

Nini screamed when Gina pretended to drop her, cursing at her girlfriend when she laughed. They swung towards the sunset, feeling content in each other’s arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for all your support!!! i've been working on this fic since march and i seriously can't believe it's over :( due to everything that has occurred with hsmtmts, i will no longer be writing any fics in this fandom. i don't feel comfortable associating myself with the show from here on out. despite that, this story means the world to me and i just want to thank you all again for everything <3


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